Connecting different science fields often leads to challenging and exciting new results – for object lesson , when software developed for one bailiwick is brought into another . One exciting model is the team atMoleGazer , who are employ galactic puppet to identify tegument cancer early .
Usually , patient considered high - danger have their full body photographed and inspected by a dermatologist for indicant that existing counterspy might have changed , now reverse into melanoma .
However , this advance is prison term - consuming and requires highly qualified doctors to go through every single mole of a affected role , plus a level of ego - diagnosing from the patients that need to keep an eye on their moles .
software system that can be used to quickly analyze patient moles would be very helpful . Fortunately , something that can do that already exists – only , it ’s in the astronomy section . astronomer routinely look for object in a map of the sky , which are then identify and their evolution cover .
Thus the MoleGazer project was born : A collaboration between the University of Southampton and Oxford University Hospital , where a patient ’s tegument is treat like the screen background sky of an astronomical range , and the mole are the stars . The package finds these “ stars ” and can see changes over sentence to alert to potential risk .
" The opportunity to apply techniques I ’m already very familiar with to problem outside of astronomy is unique and exciting . astronomer have been developing hefty puppet for a long time . see way we can use those tools elsewhere is significant and a great example of collaboration between scientific bailiwick , " Dr Meredith Morrell , a research fellow at the University of Southampton who present the work at the National Astronomy Meeting last week , order in astatement .
The team create an evolutionary history of many moles for several patients , help dermatologist name at - risk moles . The investigator would like to go even further and create a map of how benign mole turn into melanoma to wait on in the other possible diagnoses , as other identification is cardinal to better result .
