Treating the skin with light

Treating Skin Cancer with Light

Prof Ifor Samuel and Dr Andrew McNeill working with clinicians in Ninewells Hospital in Dundee have used their expertise in light-emitting-polymers to create a light emitting "sticking plaster" that may be used to treat certain types of skin disorder.

Prof Samuel with the light emitting sticking plaster

Prof Samuel said "By adapting the latest technology to an existing treatment method, we have developed a compact light source for treating common skin cancers". The light-emitting polymer is thin and flexible, and being powered by a battery can be worn on the skin for long periods. In contrast, conventional combinations of drugs and light-based activitation require patients to be illuminated by powerful filtered lamps, and thus restrict the treatment to clinics.

The physicists in our School have worked closely with Prof James Ferguson, a dermatologist at Dundee. The collaboration has produced this treament, which has been shown to be successful in treating less serious non-melanoma cancers near the surface of the skin.

St Andrews is well known throughout the world for innovative work on light sources, and there is now a thriving biophotonics activity here. The skin cancer treatment has developed from a long-standing collaboration with Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, including the successful demonstration of inorganic light-emitting diodes for skin cancer treatment published earlier this year by Professors Allen, Samuel, and Sibbett and colleagues in St Andrews along with Dr Moseley, Prof Ferguson and colleagues at Ninewells Hospital (British Journal of Dermatology (2006) 154, pp 747–750).

Later, Optics.org announced that their report of this work was one of the most read articles on their photonics news site at the end of 2006.

First posted by BDS 1.11.06

updated with optics.org 5.11.06

extended 7.11.06

extended 19.1.07