Assessment of skin lesions and skin cancer using simple electrical impedance indices

Background/aims: Purpose of this investigation was to assess benign pigmented cellular nevus (BEN), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), dermatofibroma (DER), dysplastic nevus (DYS), and seborrheic keratoses (SEB) using in vivo noninvasive electrical impedance technique. Methods: Electrical impedance was measured at 258 BEN, 34 BCC, 17 DER, 35 DYS, and 26 SEB lesions. Controls were measured at healthy skin close to the lesions. The impedance was measured between 1 kHz and 1 MHz at five depth settings. After the impedance measurements the lesions were histopathologically diagnosed. The impedance spectra were parameterized to four indices prior to the statistical analysis of the data. Results: There were significant differences between the lesions and their controls for BEN (P<0.001), BCC (P<0.001), DYS (P<0.01), and SEB(P<0.01). Conclusions: There are clear statistical differences between impedance of common lesions and control skin. With some further developments, the impedance technique can be useful as a diagnostic decision support tool for skin cancer assessment.