A handheld, objective device to assist primary care providers in checking patients for skin cancer in seconds.
DermaSensor™ is NOT a camera nor a dermatoscope.
DermaSensor™ uses pulses of light and spectroscopy to non-invasively assess lesions’ cellular and sub-cellular characteristics.
1. Lesion Identification
Physician identifies the lesion of concern on their patient
2. DermaSensor™ Scan
Physician gently touches the small device tip to the lesion, taking instant recordings at different locations of the lesion
3. Photon Scattering
Light reflects and scatters from particles in the cells of the skin tissue back to DermaSensor’s™ spectral sensor
4. Algorithmic Analysis
The proprietary DermaSensor™ algorithm analyzes the reflected photons and provides an immediate “Further Investigate” or “Monitor” result
About ESS
DermaSensor™ uses Elastic Scattering Spectroscopy (ESS), a process which evaluates how photons scatter when reflected off of different cellular structures. Malignant lesions have been reported to have different cellular and sub-cellular structures than benign lesions, scattering light differently.
Each year ~5,500,000 skin cancers are diagnosed in America making skin cancer more common than all other cancers combined5 6 7. Unfortunately, only 15% of Americans report having ever been screened for skin cancer8 and, even with that low rate, the average wait time for a dermatologist is still 32.3 days9.
While the 5-year survival rate is 98.7% for early-stage localized melanoma, it is only 24.8% for late-stage distant melanoma (metastasized to other organs)10. In addition, the total treatment costs for melanoma in situ is ~$4,648 while Stage IV melanoma is ~$159,808*11.
Effective evaluation of patients with potential skin cancer in primary care is hampered by limited consultation time and limited dermatology training. PCPs will be able to use DermaSensor™ as an adjunctive tool to better assess skin lesions and determine whether additional evaluation is needed.
What is an Adjunctive Tool?
An adjunctive tool, also known as a clinical decision support tool, is not meant to replace clinicians’ decision-making. DermaSensor™ will provide clinicians with additional information about a lesion for them to consider in their referral decision. An adjunctive tool is not a diagnostic, so DermaSensor™ does not definitively determine whether or not cancer is present, specify what type of cancer may be present, nor make any decision for the user.
DermaSensor™ is NOT a camera nor a dermatoscope.
DermaSensor™ uses pulses of light and spectroscopy to non-invasively assess lesions’ cellular and sub-cellular characteristics.
DermaSensor™ quickly assesses information below the skin surface to give physicians more information and confidence in their decision-making.
DermaSensor™ is designed to improve early detection of skin cancer through its earlier referral to dermatologists and also to reduce the number of unnecessary referrals.
Patients are expected to view DermaSensor™ as a supplemental and valuable addition to the skin care they already receive.
The non-invasive nature of DermaSensor™ is expected to be unintimidating to patients and reassure them that they are receiving high-quality care.
The machine-learning algorithm is derived from thousands of spectral samples of pathologically-verified lesions and is trained by expert data scientists.
1 in 5 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime. 7
Annual cost of treating skin cancers in the U.S. is estimated at $8.1 billion, with an estimated 5.5 million new cases of skin cancer each year.5 6 12
42.7% of patients present with at least one skin condition to their primary care physician. 13
Primary Care Physicians refer as few as 54% of the cancerous lesions they evaluate. 14