Skin diseases – Lennart Emtestam group

Since the 1980's, the group has worked with non-invasive measuring techniques for aid in the diagnosis of the skin. The methods are based on the principle that pathological tissue has different physical properties compared to normal skin.

Part of the Department of Medicine, Huddinge

The group is part of the Infectious Diseases and Dermatology Unit at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge (MedH).

Projects

1. Skin cancer diagnostic tool using electrical impedance spectroscopy

This project includes work with a non-invasive tool based on electrical impedance for distinguishing various pathological tissue from normal skin. The project is under commercialization. For more information about the project, visit scibase.com

Main collaborator:

Funding:

  • Edvard Welander Foundation
  • Finsen foundation
  • Cancer and Allergy Foundation
  • Stockholm City Council
  • Karolinska Institutet

2. Skin cancer diagnostic tool based on micromachined interface for high-resolution THz spectroscopy (MTSSC)

This project focuses on developing a micromachined interface for microwave/THz characterization of skin tissue, mainly for distinguishing skin anomalies from healthy tissue and for distinguishing malignant and benign skin tumors.

Collaborators:

  • KTH-EE-MST-RF MEMS (Joachim Oberhammer)
  • Uppsala University (UU) - Signals and Systems (Anders Rydberg)
  • Optiga AB (Lars Tenerz)

Funding:

  • Vinnova
  • Edvard Welander Foundation
  • Finsen Foundation

3. Hidradenitis suppurativa

Hidradenitis suppurativa is a cicatrizing and frequently persistent inflammatory disorder of the sebaceous follicles and terminal hair follicles of apocrine gland-bearing areas in the adult. This project started in the 1980s and focuses on investigating different aspects of the disease, including treatment, etiology and epidemiology. Two important contributions to the scientific community from the group: First, a minimal-invasive carbon dioxide laser treatment was developed by Jan Lapins. Second, the internationally established "Sartorius Score" a disease severity assessment tool was proposed by Karin Sartorius.

Collaborators:

  • Copenhagen University (Gregor Jemec)
  • University Hospital of Northern Norway (Gisli Ingvarsson)

Funding:

  • Edvard Welander Foundation
  • Finsen foundation
  • Cancer and Allergy Foundation
  • Stockholm City Council
  • Karolinska Institutet

Publications

Selected publications