The new 6G phone technology that detects skin cancer earlier

Scientists have found a new way to detect any type of skin cancer in seconds.

Currently, the 270,000 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed in Britain each year are identified using a microscope device or scans such as computed tomography (CT).

These scans use high-frequency radio waves (a type of radiation) to get a detailed picture of what’s happening in the body, but they require a hospital visit and extensive equipment.

Although they can detect the disease at its early stages, the higher frequency radio waves used by the scans can also damage healthy cells in the body. They are also time-consuming and expensive.

But now researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Glasgow have come up with another solution that they say could revolutionize skin cancer diagnosis.

They have developed a sensor that uses less harmful, low-frequency terahertz (THz) radiation, which is more accurate than using a microscope and just as accurate, but safer, than CT scans.

This is the same technology that will be used in the next generation of 6G mobile phones.

While traditional scanning techniques build up images of the tissue, the THz scan looks at how the tissue responds to certain radio frequencies. This means it can identify even a small number of cancer cells, the researchers say.

They claim the new sensor can detect skin cancer ‘within seconds’ and with ‘exceptional sensitivity’.

In the future, it could be integrated into a portable device so that patients can be diagnosed more easily, even at home.

In a study published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, the scientists tested the sensor on 3D synthetic skin to see if it could detect subtle cell changes.

After shining the THz radiation on skin samples, they checked the radio waves and found that cancerous tissue reflected the radio waves with three specific characteristics.

This was then fed into a computer program that creates graphs on a screen.

They have developed a sensor that uses less harmful, low-frequency terahertz (THz) radiation, which is more accurate than using a microscope and just as accurate, but safer, than CT scans (Stock Image)

This technology “enables more accurate differentiation between healthy cells and cancer cells and allows measurement of the degree of malignancy of the tissue,” says Dr. Shohreh Nourinovin, research associate at Queen Mary’s School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, who conducted the study led.

In laboratory tests, the sensor successfully identified normal skin cells and basal cell carcinoma cells in less than five minutes.

The researchers say this ability to detect cancer at an early stage offers enormous potential for improving patient outcomes.

Professor Qammer Abbasi, co-director of Communication Sensing & Imaging Hub at Glasgow University’s James Watt School of Engineering, who was involved in the research, says the new technology “could be particularly beneficial for people who cannot travel to hospital or can live in a hospital’. remote areas’.

He envisions it being used to screen people for skin cancer. If cancer is discovered, more detailed checks are required.

‘The earlier we can diagnose skin cancer, the better the outcome. This technology can save countless lives,” he added.

Commenting on the technology, Dr Hattie Brooks, research information manager at the charity Cancer Research UK, said: ‘Although more research is needed before this biosensor can move from the laboratory bench to the bedside, it is exciting to see promising new innovations emerging on one day helping more people affected by certain forms of skin cancer to be diagnosed at an earlier stage.’