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A new Australian device stands to save thousands of lives by helping GPs diagnose melanoma.
Minister for Science, Peter McGauran launched SolarScan™ at Bondi Beach on Tuesday.
Melanoma is the most common form of cancer in men and women aged 15-44 years. It is the most deadly form of skin cancer, killing around a thousand Australians a year.
If detected early, the cure rate for melanoma is almost 100 per cent. Late detection, when the melanoma is more than three millimetres deep, results in only a 59 per cent survival rate.
"Lifesavers are always looking for warning signs that indicate dangerous surf," Mr McGauran said.
"SolarScan will help to save lives by detecting skin cancer warning signs early enough for medical treatment.
"SolarScan will also save money by reducing the number of unnecessary surgical procedures. Almost 750,000 skin cancer removal operations are completed each year, costing Australian taxpayers more than $300 million.
"SolarScan will ensure more accurate melanoma diagnosis so that fewer people have to undergo an unnecessary operation."
The device was developed over eight years by Australian company Polartechnics, CSIRO and the Sydney Melanoma Unit, University of Sydney at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Prototypes have recently been installed in four medical centres in Queensland, adding to the seven that have been in use in other parts of Australia, the US and Europe for several years.
"Medical device exports bring in over $500 million a year to Australia. With the increasing incidence of melanoma in all continents, SolarScan also has enormous export potential," says Polartechnics MD Victor Skladnev.
"We hope to see SolarScan playing an important role in the early detection of skin cancer in this country and around the world".
"The key to saving lives is early detection" says Dr Scott Menzies, Senior Lecturer in Melanoma and Skin Oncology of the University of Sydney at the Sydney Melanoma Unit. "We've shown that this device can find a melanoma even before it exhibits features detectable in a routine clinical examination".
CSIRO contributed the image analysis software that helps SolarScan determine whether a patient's spot has the features of a melanoma.
"The imaging software we developed 'looks' at the features of a skin spot similar to those looked at by a skin specialist" says Leanne Bischof of CSIRO.
"That means that GPs can be confident of their diagnosis and respond quickly. They don't have to wait for a biopsy result, which might delay treatment, and they don't have to cut out a spot 'just in case'."
The device works by capturing an image of a patient's skin spot using an object shaped like a hairdryer with a built-in 'surface microscope'.
Image analysis software removes extraneous things from the image like hairs and oil bubbles and analyses the spot's features such as its shape and colour.
SolarScan then compares the features against images of melanomas and non-melanomas in a database, returning advice to the GP.
A record of the spot's status can be stored in Polartechnics' 'Body Map' software so that it can be rechecked another time if necessary.
The company expects that the device will be in doctors' surgeries anytime from now on and that enhancements to the device will be ongoing.
Polartechnics has also had recent success with a cervical cancer detection device Truscan™ which is currently undergoing clinical trials in Australia and Europe.