A French startup, Damae Medical, has pioneered an advanced optical technology that reveals the skin's cellular structure in detail. This non-invasive approach enables rapid identification of cancerous lesions.
The Foundation for Medical Research reports approximately 80,000 skin cancer diagnoses annually in France. These include carcinomas and the more aggressive melanoma, often detected at advanced stages—resulting in 14,000 melanoma deaths across Europe each year.
Damae Medical's innovation targets earlier detection to improve outcomes. As co-founder Anaïs Barut notes, the 5-year survival rate reaches about 98% for stage 1 melanoma diagnoses.
Traditional biopsies for carcinomas and melanomas are invasive, with results taking one to two weeks. Damae Medical's portable probe delivers real-time diagnosis through deep-tissue cellular imaging—faster and fully non-invasive.
The technology integrates optical coherence tomography (OCT) for vertical sections up to 1 mm deep and confocal reflectance microscopy (RCM) for horizontal cellular-resolution views to 200 μm.
In pre-marketing since 2018, per CNRS Journal, the deepLive device (PDF in English/2 pages) is now in ten hospitals across five countries. Backed by €2.4 million from the European Commission, Damae Medical is advancing clinical trials for broader deployment.
Future applications include monitoring moisturizers, dermo-cosmetics, and dermatological treatments.
