YOUR DONATIONS IN ACTION – Mole Mapping Machine for Dermatologists

This week, the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester took delivery of an incredible new piece of equipment thanks to funds raised by the Hampshire Medical Fund. Training has already commenced for staff with the cutting edge FotoFinder mole mapping machine which will radically change the way the hospital is able to monitor and treat skin cancer for patients in the region.

Each year, departments across the whole of HHFT (Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust) bid to secure funding through the Hampshire Medical Fund for medical equipment outside of NHS scope. Dr Sam Hunt, one of the dermatologists at HHFT who put in the initial bid for the equipment commented:

“The FotoFinder will provide an excellent service for the local people, and we are so grateful to have been able to apply to the Hampshire Medical Fund to buy it.”

The FotoFinder will be used for tracking mole changes in an effort to identify and ultimately treat skin cancer through accurate monitoring and diagnosis.

Operated by a team of two consultants, the equipment detects moles through rapid screening and taking pictures for patient records. Skin cancer specialists will then compare these images with previous pictures to clinically assess the results and alert the patient to any changes that may be found.

The main impact of the FotoFinder will be to streamline the process of checking for moles and comparing records, making it easier and quicker for both the patients and hospital staff. It uses artificial intelligence to compare any changes when doing follow up scans and will alert the dermatologists to those changes in order that appropriate action can be taken. Additionally by having the FotoFinder in Winchester, it means that the mole mapping service will be a lot more accessible to local patients, who would previously have had to travel to Basingstoke for mole monitoring.