A group of Canadian engineering students have been named the winners of this year's James Dyson Award, for their device that detects skin cancer without the need for a biopsy.

The students from McMaster University in Canada developed the Skan device as a way to quickly and easily detect melanoma in its early stages.

According to the team, 37 people in the UK alone are diagnosed with melanoma every day.

"Early diagnostic methods rely heavily on visual inspections, which are inaccurate," they said. "More advanced methods are time consuming and expensive, adding avoidable strain to already over-burdened health services."

"In the UK one to 10 skin cancers are diagnosed in the late stage, however, it can take a number of weeks to see a specialist. Those who do not go through biopsy procedures run the risk of missed detection."
As an alternative to the usual method of taking a biopsy, the team proposed that diagnosis could be made using a non-invasive device that is placed on top of the skin.

Read more on Dezeen: www.dezeen.com/"p=1150391

WATCH NEXT: Pavegen's floor tiles could power future cities with footsteps - https://youtu.be/fBB13bxQHiU

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest architecture and design movies: http://bit.ly/1tcULvh

Like Dezeen on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dezeen/
Follow Dezeen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Dezeen/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dezeen/
Check out our Pinterest: ht...