At present, post treatment assessment still involves a biopsy which entails cutting, punching or shaving out a small piece of tissue and preparing it for microscopic examination. The current standard of care is a biopsy, surgically removing a small tissue sample and examining it under a microscope. Often, a surgical biopsy seems contradictory to months of non-invasive treatment, whereas the results of the biopsy are limited to only a small portion of tissue removed. VivaScope's revolutionary technology however can non-invasively image skin one layer at a time showing cellular and nuclear detail. The VivaScope allows us to see cells and patterns of cells at various skin depths.
Good cells tend to be uniform in size and shape and arranged in an orderly manner.
He is one of several dermatologists conducting clinical trials using the device, supported with information provided by a pathologist who remotely examines the VivaScope images over a special Internet link. The dermatologist confirmed the device has been used to image patients with other skin diseases as well, including melanoma. Melanoma forms the most serious type of skin cancer and, according to the American Cancer Society, it resulted in 7300 deaths in the United States in 1999, which is a staggering 6 percent increase over the previous year. Over half of all biopsies the dermatologists perform today, and more than 80 percent performed in total, result in a negative reading. Lucid is an innovator in developing real time medical diagnostic support for cancer screening and evaluation of diseased tissue.