New treatment for skin cancer is bright idea

Skin cancer patients at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland have been helping develop a miniature, portable treatment system that will eventually be used by sufferers in their own homes.

A light-emitting device that looks like a sticking plaster with a glowing orange lozenge in the middle is powered with a lightweight battery pack carried in a belt or pocket like an iPod.

The discreet treatment system, developed in conjunction with physicist Professor Ifor Samuel at St Andrews University, means that patients can move about and carry on their normal business while cancer cells are being killed off.

The light is generated by an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and is a spin-off of Professor Samuel’s work on advanced displays.

Read more here (Courier news)