The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised the first artificial intelligence-powered medical device to help doctors detect the most common forms of skin cancer in patients.
The technology is used to further evaluate lesions that doctors have already flagged as suspicious and is not meant to be used as a screening tool, said the FDA.
More specifically, reports CBS News, the non-invasive, handheld device uses AI-powered spectroscopy tech to assess cellular and below-the-skin’s-surface characteristics of lesions on patients.
The DermaSensor device provides real-time results based on an AI algorithm trained on data related to more than 4 000 malignant and benign lesions. It then delivers a “spectral similarity score” to known cases, to complement a physician’s own assessment of a mole or lesion.
DermaSensor says the device gives primary care physicians, dermatologists and other doctors a high-tech way to evaluate moles for skin cancer beyond simply beyond examining a patient with the naked eye or through a magnifying glass.
“The device should be used in conjunction with the totality of clinically relevant information from the clinical assessment, including visual analysis of the lesion, by physicians who are not dermatologists,” the FDA said, noting that DermaSensor is for use in patients aged 40 and up.
Apart from helping to spot melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – the device can also assess moles for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
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