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New Device to Detect Skin Cancer From A Picture?
Posted by
ScuttleMonkey
on Wed Jan 18, 2006 05:19 PM
from the snapshot-physicals dept.
from the snapshot-physicals dept.
JonathanGCohen writes "News.com is reporting on a new machine that can tell you all about your skin's unique features (excessive oil, UV damage, etc.) using an image scan and software to analyze it. Its inventors plan on developing a version that can even detect skin cancer." From the article: "Apart from numbers, the technology, called Clarity Pro, can depict the depth and severity of wrinkles in a 3D chart, show the extent of bacteria-filled pores in a graph, or represent UV damage in purple dots scattered about your face in a white-light image. It can also calculate how long a person can be exposed to the sun, in minutes or hours a day, before incurring more UV damage."
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Dogs (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Dogs (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Dogs (Score:2, Informative)
What's intriging to me about this is that there is an honorable mention of the actual data from the study. Usually news reports wash over this and just blurt out a percentage. I look forward to the day there is also a link to the test data.
Re:Dogs (Score:5, Funny)
Doctor: I have bad news. You have advanced melinoma and have only a year to live. The good news is that Patches made the diagnosis! Didn't you, my good boy? Awww, now give the doomed patient some kisses.
Parent
Re:Dogs (Score:2)
Re:Dogs (Score:3, Funny)
"Hello, this is our cancer sniffing hound, Woofy."
"... why is he humping my leg?"
"Well, sir, I'm afraid you have prostate cancer."
Pah! That's Nothing (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Pah! That's Nothing (Score:2)
Utilizing spooky action at a distance, it would be possible to analyze every particle that comprises a living organism.
This thing will either be youth-obsessed America's godsend or nightmare, I can't decide.
Basically this guy counted all the possibilities (that a typical american consumer can think of) and said, well its going to be one of these. Nice! Wait till these creeped out reporters come across Brundle Fly!
Typo (Score:2, Offtopic)
In light of the other CmdrTaco story, how do I communicate this typo to 'ScuttleMonkey'. He has no email. What is the proper way to notify of an error so it can be fixed?
Re:Typo (Score:2)
1. "I hear pray tell of a new horseless carriage can go 25 miles per hour"!
2. "So I know a guy can do some incredible things you wouldn't believe in it".
3. "Finally. A refrigerator (what) can do deep freeze in an hour. Tremendous"!
And so you see, it's not hard to ignor the use of the word "THAT" before the word "can". In fact, you can
Re:Typo (Score:5, Funny)
We always appreciate assistance in making Slashdot a better place to be, and are all hoping to see much more admin/user participation in the near future. Thanks for the heads up. ~SM
Parent
It'll be really interesting when they... (Score:2, Funny)
News! (Score:5, Funny)
What about fixing your skin? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've noticed a trend in medical devices that clinics are marketing now for "peace of mind". There are scans for your heart, lungs, and now your skin. While I find the devices neat, they really don't fix anything. They seem just like another way for clinics to seperate money from you.
http://religiousfreaks.com/ [religiousfreaks.com]Re:What about fixing your skin? (Score:2)
If on the other hand, you'd prefer an MRI to an anal probe, you might want to check into it.
Virtual colonoscopy (VC) uses x rays and computers to produce two- and three-dimensional images of the colon (large intestine) from the lowest part, the rectum, all the way to the lower end of the small intestine and display them on a screen. The procedure is used to diagnose colon and bowel disease, including polyps, diverticulosis, and
Re:What about fixing your skin? (Score:3, Insightful)
Being able to do high resolution scans of the body has been one of the biggest reasons of the recent drop in cancer mortality. Cancer treatments have improved over the years, sure, but the biggest reason that fewer people are dying from breast and colon cancer is that we can find tumors when they're small and treatable, and we don't have to wait until they're large and metastasized to 3 different organ systems before finding out that a person has cancer. S
Not sure about the pores, but... (Score:3, Interesting)
Some UV damage examples [skincarephysicians.com]
Pr0n Stars (Score:4, Funny)
I hope it becomes common! (Score:5, Insightful)
My father was diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer when I was 16 and had to have a fair bit of skin from his legs removed. I went to see a dermatologist shortly afterwards who told me, and I quote, "You'll get skin cancer, it's just a matter of when." When you're 16, this is a pretty scary thing to hear from a doctor, but it's the best thing she could have done. Because of her warning, I check myself regularly (and have others check where I can't from time to time). I go see a dermatologist once a year for a checkup.
At the age of 32, I noticed a mole that wasn't quite right. Turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). I was living on the beach in Southern Mexico at the time which probably isn't the best place for a person of my skin type, but I'm generally pretty careful about sun exposure. Anyway, the doctor told me he had never had anyone catch one so early. Had it not been for the doctor warning me 16 years earlier, I may have waited long enough that a simple excision wouldn't have been possible.
I've known two people who have had melanoma. One died before his 20s and the other just barely caught it in time but has huge scars on his back from where it was removed. Early detection is crucial for those of us at risk. Melanoma is one of the most virulant and fatal forms of cancer. Caught early, it's very treatable, but the difference between early and too late can sometimes be a matter of just weeks.
If this technology can become widespread and people at risk are given access to it, I have little question that it could save a lot of lives.
Another reason to outlaw collecting biometrics... (Score:5, Insightful)
How cool: it can analyze a photo of you... and then your medical insurance provider can deny you medical insurance or charge you a higher premium due to your being in a higher "risk group".
Just like they can look at whether you have an attached or detached ear lobe, and know whether or not you have a family history of coronary artery disease, or look at your thumb print, and know whether or not you have one of the three identified high risk genes for liver cancer, or see that you're black, and so have a higher risk of sicle cell.
Unfortunately, a given gene can express in more than one way, including ways which are visible to biometric devices, or even the naked eye of a trained person. This is just another reason why biometric information should not be allowed to be collected or disclosed except under very specific conditions (e.g. HIPPA rules keep your doctor's office from selling information to drug companies or, worse, insurance companies).
-- Terry
Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
I think everyone should have decent healthcare, bad genetics or not, but why ignore that some people spent every summer baking on the beach or a portion of the population is at higher risk for heart disease because they eat tons of fast food and smoke?
It's not going to be the popular opinion around here, but why should the insurance companies get shafted on covering your self-inflicted damage?
Parent
Re:Meh... (Score:4, Interesting)
Hahahaha.. right.
It's not going to be the popular opinion around here, but why should the insurance companies get shafted on covering your self-inflicted damage?
They don't.. that's the whole point of group insurance. People like me, who pay for insurance but almost never use it, subsidize the people who aren't as healthy. Try getting an individual comprehensive (not catastrophic) insurance plan.
Parent
Re:Another reason to outlaw collecting biometrics. (Score:3, Informative)
The whole industry works by pooling the funds of man
MJ (Score:5, Funny)
evil (Score:3, Insightful)