Medical, technical, commercial re-verification of proof of concept for microwave skin-cancer diagnostic tool

Purpose and goal

This project focussed on the verification of a novel type of microwave sensor for diagnosis of skin cancer, in particular melanoma. The project is a continuation of a previous IFT-2011 project, in which the sensor prototype was developed. The focus of the current project was to investigate (1) medical prove (by experiments), (2) technology feasibility and (3) commercial requirements/business case.

Results and expected effects

The sensor was found to clearly be able to identify murine melanoma tumors, and to distinguish melanoma on the surface from tumors in underlying tissue. The technology feasibility study found that a clinical prototype, useable by clinical personal without extensive training, could be constructed for an acceptable effort. The commercial requirement study identified different usage scenarios from clinical to consumer applications. With these results, the study concludes positively from all three investigated areas (medical, technology, market).

Approach and implementation

For the medical verification, which was the main focus, two sets of animal studies (melanoma growth on laboratory mice, with the tumor growth monitored by the microwave sensor prototype) were carried out, and in each experiment two different melanoma types were tested. For the technical verification, meetings with the industrial partner were conducted and different implementation possibilities assessed. For the commercial requirements study, interviews with medical doctors were carried out, besides a market study and discussions with entrepreneurs in medical technology.