SIMSYS-MoleMate

MedX produces the Siascope which is a handheld siascopy medical device used in conjunction with the SIMSYS™ and MoleMate™ range of software.

MoleMate siascopy scanner in base with typical report

What is Siascopy?
Spectrophotometric Intracutaneous Analysis (SIA) is a fast, non-invasive and completely safe method of pigmented skin lesions differentiation with distinct advantages over clinical and dermatoscopic diagnosis of melanoma. It is easy to perform and allows examination of skin lesions with great accuracy and in a highly objective manner. The sensitivity of the method reaches the value of 96%. It has also been shown that Siascopy is the most reliable and reproducible of melanoma non-invasive diagnostic techniques.

Siascopy understands the way that light interacts with the skin; the manner in which it scatters or bounces, the amount absorbed by cells and other structures along with the different changes in wavelength or color. By understanding these interactions and comparing the light sent into skin with light that comes back out, Siascopy is able to determine the nature and position of many of the different components of the skin. Siascopy measures key chromophores, parts of the molecules responsible for their color, within the skin, in particular hemoglobin, melanin and collagen. Siascopy is also able to determine whether melanin is in the top layer of the skin, or whether it has moved lower down into the papillary dermis (dermal melanin).

How does Siascopy work?
MoleMate uses the Siascope handheld scanner. When the scanner illuminates the skin, some of the light is reflected and scattered from the surface. The remainder is transmitted into the top layers of the skin.

Varying fractions of the incoming light are then firstly absorbed by the melanin in the epidermis before entering the dermis, where they are absorbed by the hemoglobin in the blood vessels. Scattering also occurs in the dermis when the light interacts with the collagen, resulting in a portion of the light being remitted back to the surface.

By interpreting the combination of wavelengths that are received back by the Siascope, Siascopy is then able to produce Siascans; these are generated by referring to inbuilt proprietary mathematical models of skin optics. MoleMate is then able to present the user with the generated Siascans for interpretation by the medical professional.