Hyperspectroscopic screening of melanoma on acral volar skin

Background/purpose: Early detection and proper excision of the primary lesions of melanoma are crucial for reducing melanoma-related deaths. To support the early detection of melanoma, automated melanoma-screening systems have been extensively studied and developed. In this article, a previously reported hyperspectral imager and melanoma discrimination index are applied to the discrimination of acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) from acral nevus (AN), and their diagnostic performance is reported. Methods: The index expresses the disordered nature of each lesion including variegation in color based on variation in spectral information obtained from each lesion. Performance of the index has been studied in thirteen cases of ALM and seven cases of AN, obtained from patients and volunteers, all of whom were Japanese. Results: The index discriminated ALM from AN with a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 86%. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.97. Conclusion: The performance of the proposed objective melanoma discrimination index at a molecular pigmentary level approached that of clinical experts, using the three-step algorithm as the gold standard.