SPECTRAL DIAGNOSIS OF CUTANEOUS MELANOMA: USE AND ASSESSMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE

As early diagnosis is the gold standard in the treatment of melanoma; the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit at The National Institute for Cancer Research in Genoa, Italy is carrying on a new project based on spectrophotometric study of the pigmented skin lesions in collaboration with DV S.r.l. (Padova, Italy). The purpose is to develop, test and validate a prototype system (Spectramed) for the analysis of skin lesions, providing acquisition and visualization of the affliction in visible and near infrared light bands. The non-invasive system is based on fast spectral imaging to extract high level features for melanoma detecting and diagnosis. The spectrographic system is based on the PGP (Prism-Grating-Prism) technology, which analyses the light spectrum (from infrared to ultraviolet) independently of light polarization. The spectrometer, obtained by the combination of the spectrograph with the matrix optical sensor, allows the colour measurement along a line on a large number of points, with high spatial and spectral resolution. By now we have found 13 melanomas out of 400 lesions ex- amined. Clinical impact is validated by a program coordinating the activities of the medical units involved. After gathering an informed consent, lesions at risk are thus excised and tested with Spectramed. At the moment, the data collection is allowing the creation of a database for diag- nostic correlations between test data and histologic features.