The Handheld Melanoma Scanner uses a laser to instantly identify different skin cancers. In the past a lot of dermatologists had to look at a mole and try to give their expert opinion on if it's benign or cancerous. This device was created by the British Colombia Cancer Agency and it uses a laser light to find possible cancer spots that need to be examined. It uses spectroscopy to discover the "molecular make ups of moles by changing the vibrational state of the molecular bonds in a skin growth." When the light shines on the bonds there is a shift in the kind of light that is reflected back to the sensor, and that tells the scanner what kind of molecules are in the mole. The scanner then checks a database that has different examples of skin diseases. It is not 100% correct but it can help doctors get another opinion on a mole and can help prevent unnecessary biopsies.
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Hi Jayson, what a great post! One of my best friends died of Melanoma at age 30, and my brother was fortunate to find one early and have it removed at age 29. It is such a deadly disease that I'm glad there is technology that will make early detection easier.
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