Early detection of most forms of skin cancer is linked to a higher chance of survival. The DermaSensor system is a cutting-edge, non-invasive, spectroscopy-based method that can aid clinicians in the early detection of skin cancer.

An introduction to skin cancer

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer that affects people in the United States and around the world, with one out of every five Americans developing it by the age of 70. In the United States alone, over 9,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every day.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), and melanoma are the four main forms of skin cancer. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common of the four forms of skin cancer, accounting for around 80% of all cases.

Methods of detecting skin cancer today

A visual inspection, which can be done by both the patient and their doctor, is also the first step in the identification of skin cancer. The Skin Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society suggest that everyone conduct a monthly self-examination of their entire skin surface because skin cancer can affect people of all ages and ethnicities worldwide.

This monthly skin self-examination should include a thorough examination of the entire body, with the person noting any patterns of moles, blemishes, freckles, or other markings. Skin cancer can be identified by fresh, swollen, shifting, crusting, bleeding spots, bumps, patches, and moles.

 It is recommended that if a patient notices anything odd on their face, they have it examined by a doctor. The suspected spot will be examined by the patient's primary care provider (PCP), who will note its scale, shape, colour, and texture, as well as whether there is any active bleeding or scaling. Following his or her assessment, the PCP will most likely refer the patient to a dermatologist, who will be able to conduct more advanced testing in order to reach a definitive diagnosis.

Constraints

With millions of new skin cancer diagnoses made each year around the world, it's estimated that non-specialists like PCPs examine more than half of all skin issues. Since many primary care physicians are not qualified to diagnose skin cancer, they will usually refer the patient to a dermatologist.

The need to refer patients to these specialists will lead to a delay in appointments, and dermatologists will often need to take biopsies of suspected lesions, which must then be investigated further by a pathologist before a final diagnosis can be made. Early detection of skin cancer is linked to a high rate of cure.

As a consequence, such delays can have an effect on patient outcomes. Many health insurance providers may provide low reimbursement rates when biopsied tissue samples are found to be benign, leaving the patient with a large bill to pay.

DermaSensor's Future.

The DermaSensor was designed to help people solve the difficulties that come with traditional skin cancer diagnosis methods.

The DermaSensor is a portable objective skin cancer sensing system that uses pulses, light, and spectroscopy to distinguish details about a skin lesion at the subcellular level without being invasive. This instrument employs Elastic Scattering Spectroscopy (ESS), which tests and tracks photon scattering patterns as they bounce off various cellular structures in response to the application of short bursts of light.

The effectiveness of ESS technology in analysing the macroscopic structure of both cellular and subcellular particles has been demonstrated in more than 30 clinical publications. Since malignant lesions scatter light at various intensities, the DermaSensor algorithm, which is based on thousands of spectral samples of pathologically confirmed lesions, would identify a skin lesion as "Higher Risk" or "Lower Risk" right away.

Several clinical trials have been performed by the DermaSensor technology company to validate the device's efficacy. The DERM-ASSESS II study, a multi-center study that verified both the DermaSensor device's protection and its sensitivity for detecting skin cancer, is the most recent of these tests.

In terms of protection, the DermaSensor was found to be healthy in the DERM-ASSESS II review, which found no adverse effects after using the system.

The DermaSensor had a sensitivity of 100 percent when used to diagnose melanoma, which was equivalent to that of the study dermatologists, who had a sensitivity of 90.9 percent when diagnosing melanoma.

The DermaSensor had a sensitivity of 93.3 percent when used to diagnose Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers (NMSCs), such as BCC and SCC, compared to the research dermatologists' sensitivity of 98.3 percent.

Conclusion

The absence of statistically significant discrepancies between the study dermatologists' and the DermaSensor's sensitivity confirms the device's high and reliable output as compared to that of a qualified specialist. Compared to dermatologists, who have a high sensitivity rate of 82 percent to 100 percent in diagnosing different forms of skin cancers, PCPs have a much lower sensitivity rate of about 71 percent. PCPs have a lower sensitivity rate than the DermaSensor, which was stated to have a 94.3 percent sensitivity rate in the DERM-ASSESS II analysis.

Although the DermaSensor is not meant to replace a clinician's decision-making process, it will provide PCPs with additional information on suspicious lesions, allowing them to decide whether a referral to a dermatologist is necessary.

It should be remembered that the DermaSensor does not have the ability to definitively diagnose skin cancer. The DermaSensor cannot tell you what form of cancer is present if a skin lesion is labelled "Higher Risk." The DermaSensor enables PCPs to make more informed decisions about unusual skin spots, preventing unnecessary morbidity and allowing for more detailed specialist referrals when required.