Current and emerging technologies in melanoma diagnosis: the state of the art

Abstract

Relative to other specialties, dermatologists have been slow to adopt advanced technologic diagnostic aids. After all, most skin disease can be diagnosed by simple visual inspection, and the skin is readily accessible for a diagnostic biopsy. Diagnostic aids such as total body photography and dermoscopy improve the clinician's ability to diagnose melanoma beyond unaided visual inspection, however, and are now considered mainstream methods for early detection. Emerging technologies such as in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy are currently being investigated to determine their utility for noninvasive diagnosis of melanoma. This review summarizes the currently available cutaneous imaging devices and new frontiers in noninvasive diagnosis of skin disease. We anticipate that multimodal systems that combine different imaging technologies will further improve our ability to detect, at the bedside, melanoma at an earlier stage.

Suitability of frequency modulated thermal wave imaging for skin cancer detection—A theoretical prediction

“…In the current clinical settings and research facilities many conventional and state-of-the-art non-invasive modalities are explored for the detection and the differentiation of skin cancer, viz., terahertz pulse imaging (Woodward et al, 2002), reflectance mode short-pulse laser detection method (Bhowmik et al, 2014a), thermal imaging (Centigul and Hermann, 2011;Bonmarin and Le Gal, 2014a;Bhowmik et al, 2014b) and many more (Psaty and Halpern, 2009). In the recent years, the use of thermal imaging techniques for the detection and the differentiation of skin cancer stages have gained exceptional interest.…”

Mass spectrometry analysis of melanoma related O-glycans in sera

“…More than 60000 people are diagnosed with melanoma in the US every year and 8000 of them died of this disease [2]. If melanoma could be diagnosed at an early stage, desirable therapeutic effect could be gained by locally extended resection.…”

Video Communication in Telemedicine

“…Images and data are sent electronically to expert dennoscopists (teleconsultant) in a STF fashion. The dermoscopist's report, with provisional diagnosis and recommendations, is returned to the patient for self-monitoring purposes or to the patient's primary care providers, or both, for referral for excision (Psaty & Halpern, 2009). Modem PDAs and 3G mobile phones revolutionize the dimensions of data transmission, network coverage, and the number of pixels.…”