Eindhoven’s Catharina Hospital is set to introduce a new scanner in about a year and a half that will provide patients with quick results regarding the most common type of skin cancer.
“The key feature is that it’s painless, and you often get the results immediately,” says Tjinta Brinkhuizen, a dermatologist at the hospital who is involved in the research and application of the device. In this study, Catharina Hospital partnered with Maastricht UMC+ to test the scanner on 500 patients from both Eindhoven and Maastricht hospitals.
Piece of skin
Suspicious spots are now examined by cutting off a piece of skin. That piece is examined in a laboratory. Brinkhuizen: “Patients are given an anesthetic and then three millimeters of skin is removed. An average of two weeks later there is then a result. All that time a patient is in limbo, which is annoying for them.”This device is not only faster, it also saves laboratory costs.
Scanner
According to Brinkhuizen, there are still challenges before the scanner can be used. For example, there must be training for the dermatologists on how to use the scanner, schedules must be rearranged and appointments must be clustered to make the best use of the scanner.
In the coming months, the scanner will be put into use in the dermatology department at the UMC+. Catharina Hospital is watching how the Maastricht hospital uses the scanner. The knowledge they gain there will be used in the Eindhoven hospital.
Source: Studio040
For Eindhoven news: Chaitali Sengupta.
