Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MOLEGAZER (Mole Gazer: Proof-of-concept study to improve early detection of melanoma using time-series analyses of evolution of naevi)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-08-01 bis 2022-10-31
MoleGazer is a collaboration between astrophysicists and dermatologists to apply these astrophysical analysis techniques of sequential images of the night sky, to the automated detection, characterisation, and monitoring of skin lesions. This ERC PoC grant had the aim of constructing a new and unique database of ‘total body photography’ (TBP – high-quality images of the entire skin). The PoC project enabled the TBP of the same patients attending skin cancer screening clinics at multiple time points. These patients included both 50 high-risk patients attending screening clinics for sequential three-monthly TBP imaging and clinical assessment, and several hundred patients in clinics who have undergone TBP as standard care.
The PoC grant used these TBP images to develop an algorithm that accurately registers the images and identifies the same moles in sequential imaging. These moles are then presented for characterisation by both astronomical source detection algorithms and by expert dermatologists. These data characterise the properties and evolutionary path of naevi to form a training sample of moles that will next be used to inform the adaption of existing astronomical algorithms. These algorithms will be used in the development of the final MoleGazer algorithm, designed to ‘map moles’ over a patient’s lifetime to detect changes, with the eventual aim of using this technique to detect melanoma as early as possible.