New hope in skin cancer diagnosis

Exposure to the sun can be extremely risky

A hospital in Bristol has become the first in the country to use a computer to help give patients with suspected skin cancer the all-clear.

Surgeons at the city's Frenchay hospital say they hope the laptop scanner will eventually be used by family doctors so patients can receive treatment more easily.

The handset shines 12 different type of light directly on to a mole, before analysing how that light reacts with different levels of skin.

Skin specialist John Kenelay said: "If it's as good as we are at diagnosing these innocent lesions then effectively we can multiply ourselves many fold so that patients don't have to travel to see us."

The hospital is in the process of carrying out a clinical trial and is half way though scanning 800 patients.

If it proves accurate in spotting benign moles then it could be used by non-specialist GPs and nurses in the community.