The Technical Research Center of Finland VTT has developed a hyperspectral camera, which is capable to detect early stage of skin cancer, the Finnish Daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Thursday.

According to Heikki Saari, inventor of the camera, high-resolution hyper-spectral imaging has been utilized "in unmanned aircraft used in environmental research."

The hand-held and accurate camera can image an large skin area of 12 square centimetres at one time for pre-malignancies in two seconds. It can be used to detect skin cancer and its precursors and enable the early treatment of the decease.

The camera can also be used to find out the borders of poorly skin tumors, such as lentigo malignas, which are difficult to detect by naked eyes, in order to avoid the need for re-excisions.

"The preliminary results are promising," says Noora Neittaanmaki-Perttu, a doctor from the Helsinki University Central Hospital, adding that the light-weight and manual tool is suitable for clinical trials.

According to VTT, skin cancer rates have been growing rapidly worldwide, due to population aging and UV damage caused by excessive exposure to sunlight. The innovation of the hyperspectral camera opens up a new prospect for efficiently detecting and curing skin cancers at early stage.

Source: Xinhuanet