DermaSensor Device Can Help Detect Skin Cancer Across Skin Tones

Yale dermatologist David J. Leffell, MD, discusses the new research with DermWire.

DermaSensor's handheld Elastic Scattering Spectroscopy (ESS) device can help detect skin cancer in patients across different Fitzpatrick skin types, according to new research presented at the 2023 American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Innovation Academy meeting.

DermaSensor is designed for primary care physicians to evaluate lesions of concern and streamline referrals to dermatologists.

"The key takeaway is that the Dermasensor device can be used reliably in individuals of color to evaluate lesions of concern for skin cancer and melanoma," says lead author David J. Leffell, MD, Professor of Dermatology, Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology and Chief of the Dermatologic Surgery Program at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven. "This technology is important because the studies have shown that it can be very useful in helping primary care providers screen for skin cancer and melanoma which could streamline referrals to dermatologists for patients with lesions of concern for cancer," he tells DermWire.

In the study, DermaSensor's ESS device demonstrated high sensitivity of 96% in detecting all skin cancer types when compared to the gold standard of histopathologic examination, with similar sensitivity and specificity across Fitzpatrick skin type subgroups. 

In the sub-analysis, patients were divided into two groups based on their Fitzpatrick skin types (FST): FST I-III and FST IV-VI. Of the 1,005 patients enrolled in the study, 729 (72%) belonged to the FST I-III group, and 276 (28%) were in the FST IV-VI group. Forty-eight skin cancers were detected in subjects with Fitzpatrick skin type IV-VI. Importantly, there was minimal variation in device sensitivity, specificity, and Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUROC) when comparing patients in the two FST subgroups to each other and to overall study results. 
The device sensitivity was similar between FST I-III and IV-VI, 96% and 92%, respectively, and AUROC was also similar with results of 0.779 for FST I-III and 0.764 for FST IV-VI, the study showed.

Dr. Leffel serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Dermasensor.