Light Bandage treats skin cancer on-the-go

by Cyrus Farivar, posted Oct 31st 2006 at 8:28PM

A physicist and a dermatology consultant at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (no, that's not the beginning of a joke) have just built a new revolutionary mobile treatment for skin cancer. Their invention is a "light bandage" whose LEDs shine onto the affected area while the wearer is out and about, and draws power from an iPod-sized battery pack. The device is based on the principles of photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT), which is traditionally used to treat skin cancer; however, in current applications of PDT, patients must sit or lie still while sitting under huge light sources. Of course, this means that now you can go lay on the beach to get your tan on, absorbing ultraviolet rays while wearing a light bandage to treat your skin cancer. Perfect.

[Via medGadget]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

Tags: dermatology, light bandage, LightBandage, scotland, skin cancer, SkinCancer, university of st. andrews, UniversityOfSt.Andrews

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Greg @ Oct 31st 2006 9:37PM

Engadget with the 3 sec. last sentence K.O. =)

Neutral

xenokilla @ Oct 31st 2006 10:29PM

you do realize that laying in the sun all day causes skin cancer? also i can only imagine the tan lines that thing would give.

Neutral

Eddie @ Oct 31st 2006 11:08PM

I don't believe xenokilla understood the joke in the last sentence. rofl.

Neutral

henrah @ Oct 31st 2006 11:10PM

I'm confident that I'm not the only person who read that as "light bondage."

Neutral

ebzy @ Nov 1st 2006 6:11AM

hehehe

Your right

Neutral

TwilightGhost @ Nov 1st 2006 4:17AM

*tweaks xenokilla's irony detection unit*

Neutral

stuey @ Nov 1st 2006 8:26AM

henrah, you sure it wasn't a case of freudian slip?

Neutral

John Stracke @ Nov 1st 2006 8:40AM

The next-generation model is solar-powered. ;-)

Neutral

Rosalita @ Mar 2nd 2007 1:10AM

It seems like there are some new ways of treating skin cancer (non surgical & natural). ..
I found this informative slide show on skin cancer treatment. Takes about a minute to watch..
http://www.filmloop.com/cgi-bin/bv/bv.py?ticket=EwSwq7cp6SgGjX02wDRW/Brn4L6y8HJZ&flash=1&extAds=1&px=FL

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