Skin Cancer Detection: New Device Seeks to Shorten Wait Time for Biopsies
A 3D imaging device invented by a young investigator at the Wilmot Cancer Institute can accurately detect two types of nonmelanoma skin cancer and report results within minutes, according to a pilot study published in JAMA Dermatology.
Michael Giacomelli, Ph.D., a University of Rochester assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering, started working on the device when he was a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since then, he’s been conducting research to test its efficiency. Of the 15 biopsies reported in JAMA, diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma displayed perfect accuracy and diagnosis of squamous cell skin cancer displayed 89 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity.
The imaging system was designed to be rolled on a small cart into an operating room or other clinical space and provide real-time results to physicians who’ve taken biopsies of suspected cancerous lesions of all types. Normally, biopsied tissue would be sent to a pathology lab for further testing and patients would have to wait for results.
Learn more from the full study, and the UR newsroom story.
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