There's a high-tech breakthrough in the battle against melanoma. It's the deadliest form of skin cancer, claiming another victim every hour in this country, but the disease is curable, if caught early.
To look for signs of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, doctors can use a first of its kind device called MelaFind which has just been approved by the FDA. Doctors try to catch melanoma early, when it's most curable. Up until now, doctors relied on biopsies to check suspicious moles, a process that can be traumatic for patients.
MelaFind lowers the need for many biopsies. It emits a light that penetrates below the surface of the skin, then it takes digital pictures which are sent to a computer and analyzed. It calculates a score which shows whether a biopsy should be done, all in under a minute. In Clinical trials it was 98.3 percent sensitive, and that does beat our naked eye.
It's one less stress for me to worry about.
To look for signs of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, doctors can use a first of its kind device called MelaFind which has just been approved by the FDA. Doctors try to catch melanoma early, when it's most curable. Up until now, doctors relied on biopsies to check suspicious moles, a process that can be traumatic for patients.
MelaFind lowers the need for many biopsies. It emits a light that penetrates below the surface of the skin, then it takes digital pictures which are sent to a computer and analyzed. It calculates a score which shows whether a biopsy should be done, all in under a minute. In Clinical trials it was 98.3 percent sensitive, and that does beat our naked eye.
It's one less stress for me to worry about.
