Bye, bye, biopsy? Handheld device could painlessly identify skin cancers
Stevens Institute of Technology uses millimeter-wave imaging to slash
rate of unnecessary biopsies
Date:
May 4, 2022
Source:
Stevens Institute of Technology
Summary:
A new device uses millimeter-wave imaging -- the same technology
used in airport security scanners -- to scan a patient's skin to
detect if they have skin cancer. Millimeter-wave rays harmlessly
penetrate about 2mm into human skin, so the team's imaging
technology provides a clear 3D map of scanned skin lesions.
FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Skin biopsies are no fun: doctors carve away small lumps of tissue for laboratory testing, leaving patients with painful wounds that can take
weeks to heal. That's a price worth paying if it enables early cancer treatment.
However, in recent years, aggressive diagnostic efforts have seen the
number of biopsies grow around four times faster than the number of
cancers detected, with about 30 benign lesions now biopsied for every
case of skin cancer that's found.
========================================================================== Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology are now developing a
low-cost handheld device that could cut the rate of unnecessary biopsies
in half and give dermatologists and other frontline physicians easy access
to laboratory- grade cancer diagnostics. "We aren't trying to get rid of biopsies," said Negar Tavassolian, director of the Bio-Electromagnetics Laboratory at Stevens. "But we do want to give doctors additional
tools and help them to make better decisions." The team's device uses millimeter-wave imaging -- the same technology used in airport security scanners -- to scan a patient's skin. (In earlier work, Tavassolian
and her team had to work with already biopsied skin for the device to
detect if it was cancerous.) Healthy tissue reflects millimeter-wave
rays differently than cancerous tissue, so it's theoretically possible
to spot cancers by monitoring contrasts in the rays reflected back from
the skin. To bring that approach into clinical practice, the researchers
used algorithms to fuse signals captured by multiple different antennas
into a single ultrahigh-bandwidth image, reducing noise and quickly
capturing high-resolution images of even the tiniest mole or blemish.
Spearheaded by Amir Mirbeik Ph.D. '18, the team used a tabletop version of their technology to examine 71 patients during real-world clinical visits,
and found their methods could accurately distinguish benign and malignant lesions in just a few seconds. Using their device, Tavassolian and Mirbeik could identify cancerous tissue with 97% sensitivity and 98% specificity
-- a rate competitive with even the best hospital-grade diagnostic tools.
"There are other advanced imaging technologies that can detect skin
cancers, but they're big, expensive machines that aren't available in
the clinic," said Tavassolian, whose work appears in the March 23 issue
of Scientific Reports.
"We're creating a low-cost device that's as small and as easy to use
as a cellphone, so we can bring advanced diagnostics within reach for everyone." Because the team's technology delivers results in seconds,
it could one day be used instead of a magnifying dermatoscope in routine checkups, giving extremely accurate results almost instantly. "That
means doctors can integrate accurate diagnostics into routine checkups,
and ultimately treat more patients," said Tavassolian.
Unlike many other imaging methods, millimeter-wave rays harmlessly
penetrate about 2mm into human skin, so the team's imaging technology
provides a clear 3D map of scanned lesions. Future improvements to the algorithm powering the device could significantly improve mapping of
lesion margins, enabling more precise and less invasive biopsying for
malignant lesions.
The next step is to pack the team's diagnostic kit onto an integrated
circuit, a step that could soon allow functional handheld millimeter-wave diagnostic devices to be produced for as little as $100 a piece -- a
fraction of the cost of existing hospital-grade diagnostic equipment. The
team is already working to commercialize their technology and hopes
to start putting their devices in clinicians' hands within the next
two years.
"The path forward is clear, and we know what we need to do," said
Tavassolian.
"After this proof of concept, we need to miniaturize our technology,
bring the price down, and bring it to the market."
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Stevens_Institute_of_Technology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Amir Mirbeik, Robin Ashinoff, Tannya Jong, Allison Aued, Negar
Tavassolian. Real-time high-resolution millimeter-wave imaging
for in- vivo skin cancer diagnosis. Scientific Reports, 2022; 12
(1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09047-6 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220504135627.htm
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