Facilitates and speeds up diagnosis skin cancer, other forms of the disease, “dermatometry” are possible. It is the first “scanner” to detect skin cancer cells that are invisible to the naked eye, increasing diagnostic capabilities and allowing faster surgical removal. The main purpose of the “dermatometer”, developed at the University of Warwick, is to find out how deep the cancer has spread under the skin.

Professor Joe Hardwick, consultant in the Department of Plastic Surgery at Coventry University Hospital, where the device is being tested, said the scanner is an extremely promising innovation. “Some dermatological cancers spread very deep under the skin and we cannot distinguish them. Thus, when they are surgically removed, it is very likely that cancer cells will remain, causing a recurrence of the disease. We hope that with the help of the “dermatometer” this possibility will disappear and we will be able to remove all malignant cells from the very first operation,” he stressed. Today’s surgical procedure is time consuming and complex. Several pieces of skin must be removed and examined to ensure that all cancer cells have been removed. Using a scanner will simplify and speed up the process. Faster diagnosis means that the patient’s anxiety will be relieved earlier, but the start of treatment will also be accelerated.

The University of Warwick program is coordinated by Professor of Physics Dr. Emma McPherson. As he explains, the “dermatometer” uses pulsed light in the terahertz (THz) part of the electromagnetic spectrum that hits the skin and is reflected. The reflected light waveform shows how deep the cancer has advanced.