Skin Analysis Machine

Similar to what I posted last week, the Skin Analysis Machine is able to detect problems before they reach the skin's surface. To use the machine, patients stick their cheeks inside the Skin Analysis Machine.  It then takes a 3D picture of the person's face and then compares it to 5000 other people of the same age and skin type. Wrinkles, crows feet, sun damage, pore size, skin damage and bacteria are all highlighted in the results.

The machine also has a way to show how your skin will progress in 10 years should you go without any kind of treatment. The doctor might prescribe a laser treatment to help treat sun damaged skin or an anti-wrinkle cream to treat lines on the person's face. To see how the Skin Analysis Machine works, click here.

There are ways to help slow down the aging process:
   - Avoid collagen: it doesn't actually help prevent wrinkles
   - Wear a sunblock with a SPF over 30: it helps protect your skin
   - Don't get facials: they actually increase your risk of a breakout on your skin
   - Eat the right foods: some foods, such as tomato paste, can help protect your skin from a              sunburn

You can find Skin Analysis Machines at doctors offices and medical spas. The cost is around $100, but can vary from doctor to doctor.  

Facial Skin Analyzer Machine

One way to look at how much sun damage your face has received is by using the Facial Skin Analyzer.  At the events that my uncle holds, he brings this machine for people to see how much the sun affects their skin. The person walks up on one side and my uncle sits on the rear view side (shown below).  The person then sticks their head inside the machine so that his or her face is completely inside in analyzer (as shown in the side view). 

This is what it looks like inside the the Facial Skin Analyzer. The person's face is illuminated to show how deep the sun has affected his or her skin. It only take a few seconds to get the results; my uncle analyzes the person's face based on what lights up inside the Analyzer.

This is what it looks like to the person when he or she sticks his or her face into the Facial Skin Analyzer. The dark spots show where the skin has been affected by the sun. Most of the dark spots you see are freckles under the skin, similar to those that are on the surface of a person's skin. However, freckles indicate sun damage to your skin. The more freckles the more sun damage, which then leads to a higher risk of skin cancer. Freckles are only clumps of the pigment melanin, so they cannot on their own become cancerous since they lack a cellular structure. Although not necessary, surface freckles are able to be removed by chemical peel or other treatments, but they are not dangerous on their own. 

I have actually used this machine when I was around 10 years old, and I was already filled with brown spots. I looked in from the other side when my mom put her face in, and her face was even worse. This made sense as she is older, so she had more exposure to the sun. Because we live in Arizona, we are constantly out under the sun. It is extremely important to wear sunblock for this reason. 

As you can see in this girl's picture, she has been out in the sun without any kind of protection. When I go to a beach, a water park, or even walking around school, I cover up as much as possible. I'll wear sunglasses and a hat walking around school, and water shorts and a shirt when I go to the beach. I know as young adults we find it to be "uncool" to cover up - especially at places where people prefer to show skin, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

MelaFind

There is an emerging  technology that is making Melanoma detection quicker and easier, and is also saving patients from having to get a biopsy to determine if a mole is pre-cancerous. The MelaFind is a high-tech laser gun that performs the same work that a scalpel is intended to do: it looks deep into the mole, but without having to cut into the patients skin.

The pros for the MelaFind is that it will be able to diagnose melanomas earlier and will prevent patients from having to get a biopsy. This saves patients money and eliminates getting scars from a biopsy. On the other hand, the MelaFind is not yet covered by insurance and costs $100 for five mole searches.

Doctors believe that the MelaFide is better for determining if a mole is dangerous because they will be able to view the results on a computer screen after the MelaFind is used. The MelaFind will now allow for patients to only need surgery if the mole comes back indicating that it is pre-cancerous.

To see a video clip on the MelaFind, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZIXiwBezGQ.

Detecting Technologies

Doctors are using new technologies to detect Melanoma, increasing patients chances of catching the disease before it has the opportunity to spread:

Dermoscopy
- hand-held microscopes
- used to find features that would not be present just by looking at the mole
- both magnifies and illuminates the mole, helping doctors increase chances of catching Melanoma
- if the doctor cannot determine a diagnosis, a biopsy is performed

Full-body photography
- used for high risk Melanoma patients (those with many moles, have family history of Melanoma, many moles of different sizes, shapes and colors)
-  photographs are used to watch moles change over time

Mole mapping
- moles are digitized using dermoscopy cameras
- the resulting pictures are transformed to see what the mole would be like in 3 months and again at 6 months
- helps compare different skin areas
- beneficial for those with many atypical moles

Reflectance confocal microscopy
- takes images at a cellular level resolution, showing the top layer and deepest layers of the skin
- a laser light focuses on a certain spot on the skin, and then the entire level of skin in that area gets scanned
- non invasive diagnosis

Gene profiling
- "measures the activity of thousands of genes simultaneously to create an overall impression of how cells function."
- used to find an change in genes to find a particular classifier for Melanoma


These technologies help not only detect Melanoma in earlier stages, but it will also help save more patients lives. For a further description of each detection method, check out recent Melanoma technologies. Also check out the ABCDs of how to detect a mole on yourself.