Cancer of the skin is the most common type of cancer in the US, with more than one million Americans diagnosed every year. Melanoma is responsible for approximately 75% of all deaths from skin cancer; it is also the fastest growing cancer in the U.S. and worldwide, its incidence increasing 20-fold since 1935, to 1 in 74 people in 2000. The American Cancer Society projects over 10,000 deaths annually from skin cancer. Early detection remains the only effective means of fighting melanoma, but at present dermatologists rely primarily on visual examinations of patients to identify suspicious skin tissues. Unfortunately, melanomas can mimic benign lesions that are overwhelmingly more common, and misdiagnosis of melanoma can occur, with deadly consequences.

Decision making in minimally invasive surgery currently relies on the (subjective) assessment of tissue health by the surgeon (in real time) and a pathologist (off-line). This process needs to be accelerated and made more reliable for better outcomes as well as savings.

Tissue health mapping is important in clinical areas ranging from open-heart surgery to stroke wound/burn healing, and could greatly benefit from topologically resolved oxygenation data.

SkinSpect™

The SkinSpect™ device addresses the massive need for early, reliable, non-invasive diagnosis of and screening for skin cancer. We plan to bring the SkinSpect™ device to commercial viability first.

EndoSpect™

The EndoSpect™ device is a hyperspectral imaging endoscope able to assess tissue status during minimally invasive surgery (gastro-intestinal, pulmonary or other endoscopy). Early detection, diagnosis and outlining of cancer is enabled by mapping the sizes of nuclei in cells, without the use of contrast agents, by light scattering.

OxySpect™

The OxySpect™ device maps tissue oxygenation by spectral imaging in a broad range of body locations, to assist in assessing tissue health during and after surgical intervention.