‘Virtual biopsy’ device detects skin tumors in 15 minutes

The ability to analyze a skin tumor non-invasively could make biopsies much less risky and distressing to patients, researchers say.

Currently, physicians who perform surgical biopsies often don’t know the extent of a lesion–or the necessity of referring the patient to a specialist for extensive tissue removal or plastic surgery–until surgery has already begun.

The first-of-its-kind experimental procedure, called vibrational optical coherence tomography (VOCT), creates a 3D map of the lesion’s width and depth under the skin with a tiny laser diode.

by Neal Buccino-Rutgers