"Selfie" of melanoma

A camera has been developed for the diagnosis of skin cancer

Copper news based on Frontiers in Optics materials: The Skin Cancer SelfieResearchers from Duke University (USA) have developed a gigapixel camera designed for early diagnosis of melanoma, the most common type of skin cancer.

The device, which combines more than three dozen micro-cameras, allows you to get a high-resolution image of the entire surface of the patient's skin and identify the smallest potentially malignant areas on it.

The development will be presented during the 98th Annual Frontiers in Optics Conference, which will be held from October 19 to 23 in Tucson, Arizona.

According to one of the developers, Daniel Marks, the camera allows you to detect pathological changes on the skin at a much earlier stage than a standard digital dermatoscope. "As a rule, a dermatologist is forced to choose between examining a limited area of the skin with high resolution or studying a more extensive area with a lower resolution. When using a gigapixel camera, he will not have to make such a choice," Marx stressed.

The device is a combination of 34 micro-cameras forming a dome, which makes it possible to level out distortions and form a continuous image with 75-micron resolution.

The computer selects the exposure and focal length for each camera individually. In addition, the software allows for a preliminary assessment of the obtained image of the patient's skin surface and to identify regions that require closer attention of specialists.

The developers are confident that the quality of the resulting image makes it possible to use it in telemedicine. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the camera has shown good results during preliminary tests on healthy people, its clinical trials are still ahead.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru06.10.2014