While oral cancer is relatively straightforward for dentists to diagnose, there is a smartphone device that is supposed to be a low-cost solution for detecting cancerous oral lesions in parts of the world where access to dentists is extremely limited.
Scientific American just profiled a team led by Dr. Manu Prakash at Stanford University that has developed an easy-to-use screening device called OScan, which attaches to a smartphone or digital camera so health workers can take photos of a patient’s mouth and digitally send them to an offsite expert for analysis—expediting diagnoses to help saving lives.
The device is being tested in India, where in most rural parts of the country there’s statistically one dentist per 250,000 people—oral cancer goes unnoticed and therefore untreated. The incidence of oral cancer is 12.6 cases per 100,000 people, an unusually high rate. In south-central Asia, oral cavity cancer ranks in the three most common cancers in the population.
Worldwide statistics on oropharyngeal cancer are grim, particularly in developing countries (which consume fully 71% of the world’s tobacco). The World Health Organization reports that “sharp increases in the incidence rates of oral/pharyngeal cancers have been reported for several countries and regions such as Denmark, France, Germany, Scotland, central and eastern Europe and to a lesser extent Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the USA.”
- The Case for Mediocrity
- How Russia Is Recruiting Cubans to Fight in Ukraine
- Paul Hollywood Answers All of Your Questions About The Great British Baking Show
- Meet the 2023 TIME100 Next: the Emerging Leaders Shaping the World
- Oprah and Arthur C. Brooks: How to Separate Work From Your Identity
- How Canada and India's Relationship Crumbled
- You Don’t Have to Like Wrestling to Love Netflix’s Excellent Wrestlers
- The Most Anticipated Books, Movies, TV, and Music of Fall 2023
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
