Device enables early skin tumor detection

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Israeli medical scientists say they are developing a device that can detect skin tumors, including melanomas, before they are visible to the naked eye.

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, led by Professor Ibrahim Abdulhalim, said initial testing of their Optical Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging device revealed new textures of lesions that have never been seen -- including melanoma in patients who were diagnosed with various skin lesions and were awaiting surgery for their removal.

The instrument diagnosed 73 types of lesions, some of them cancerous, the scientists said.

Dermatologists and plastic surgeons typically diagnose skin tumors by their appearance with the naked eye and only rarely use a dermatoscope -- a magnifying tool that allows tumors to be examined in detail.

The scientists said their biosensor uses safe, infrared wavelengths to measure tumor characteristics, including contours and spread.

"This is an exciting preliminary development since the initial testing shows that we can now identify microscopic tumors in the biological layers of the skin," said Abdulahim. "As we continue to develop the OSPI, we also see an opportunity to use this technology for detecting other types of cancerous growths."

Abdulhalim, in collaboration with Professor Lior Rosenberg, is supervising the research with two students, Ofir Aharon and Avner Safrani, and Dr. Ofer Arnon at Soroka University Medical Center.