Professor Malin Malmsjö have received a three year grant from Mrs Berta Kamprad´s foundation for her project "Developing Photoacoustic Imaging into a Novel Diagnostic Tool for Malignant Melanoma".

The purpose of this project is to develop photoacoustic imaging (PAI) for pre-surgical delineation of melanomas. The project will use a systematic approach (cell culture to animal models to humans), in which the spectral features of melanoma cells will first be identified. Technical development will be concurrently achieved by the introduction of robust spectral algorithms based on the identified spectral features, to enable in vivo determination of melanoma tumor borders. Finally, the system will be tested in the clinical setting. The work will be performed in collaboration between the Faculties of Medicine and Engineering at Lund University. The project has access to two PAI systems, one for experimental research, at the Biomedical Center in Lund, and one for clinical research, at the Department of Ophthalmology and Oncology, in combination with advanced biophotonics instruments. The PAI approach has the potential to dramatically improve the diagnosis of melanoma. Non-invasive mapping of the melanoma prior to surgery will enable excision with adequate surgical margins and simultaneous sentinel node biopsy at the first surgery, thereby reducing the number of surgical procedures, and facilitating efficient treatment strategies.