Musselburgh Races
App for skin cancer detection
Scottish Independence Referendum – the view from both sides
Cuckoo’s Cupcakes
Children’s Panel needs you
Next Monday there will be racing at Musselburgh and one horse will race for the Referendum No camp and one for the Yes camp. It is an interesting idea sure to attract a lot of attention ahead of the vote on Thursday.
***
The early diagnosis and detection rates of skin cancer has been boosted by a pioneering digital application developed at the University of Edinburgh which trains the medical profession to accurately identify malignant and benign skin lesion and skin growths at an earlier stage.
The app – named Dermofit –has now been licensed to Simedics Limited, a Yorkshire-based company specialising in digital products and publishing for the healthcare and public sector services.
Dermofit is the brainchild of Professor Jonathan Rees, Grant Chair of Dermatology at the University of Edinburgh who had the initial concept to develop a digital tool to educate GPs in order to improve skin lesion diagnosis proficiency back in 2005.
Professor Rees has now collaborated with Professor Bob Fisher of the University’s School of Informatics to further develop the Dermofit app.
Professor Rees comments: “Thirty per cent of doctors will automatically send a patient to a hospital if they have signs of a skin growth. But the evidence is that the vast majority of people who are seen and referred do not have skin cancer or anything serious at all.”
Bob Fisher, who specialises in computer vision and helped design the computer algorithms for the app, adds:
“Dermofit contains a photo library of skin lesions to help inform practitioners to diagnosis more effectively. Practitioners can click on the image of a lesion of interest which then leads to further similar lesions.
As lesions are selected, further sets of similar lesions are displayed. This gives familiarity with the different skin lesion types and allows users to differentiate between lesions that look similar, but that are from different skin lesion classes.”
The app took around four years to develop, which included sourcing the extensive image library and associated diagnoses (which currently boasts over 1,300 images), developing the algorithms to automatically group the photos based on their colour and texture properties, and testing the product with real-life practitioners.
Simedics Limited originally approached the University regarding the technology through ‘University Technology’ (www.university-technology.com), an initiative that promotes new technology opportunities for industry from all of Scotland’s universities.
The app was licensed to Simedics this summer, through Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), the University of Edinburgh’s commercialisation arm. The company now plans to develop and launch a commercial product this autumn, targeted at the medical students, dermatology specialist nurses, and general practitioners training market.
Matthew Driver, Director of Simedics, said: “We saw this app as a really exciting opportunity for us, which fits well with our plans to increase our range of digital teaching tools in the healthcare sector. We have plans to targeting global markets following a UK launch later this year.”
Prof. Fisher believes the app has the potential to be developed further, and hopes for a continuing relationship with Simedics in the future.
He said: “We feel that there are opportunities to improve the app even more moving forward. For example, it would be great if we could analyse the data of how people are using the search tool to diagnose so that we can improve things for the future.”
Prof. Rees found the inter-disciplinary collaboration at the University a really interesting experience. He said: “We have enjoyed working with each other and certainly the final product would not been possible without joining forces, and we are curious to see how the company plan on using our technology in the future.”
Derek Waddell, ERI’s Chief Executive, welcomed the deal, saying “This is another example of business and academia working together to develop new technology that benefits society and the UK economy.”
***
The Edinburgh author Sara Sheridan was on Murnaghan on Sky on Sunday morning as an author and pro-independence campaigner. You can read the transcript of the whole programme here.
If you wish to read about the view from the other side of the debate then we commend you our article written by Professor Jonathan Hearn from University of Edinburgh which you can read here.
***
Cuckoo’s Cupcakes have released the results of their opinion poll on a regular basis for the last 25 weeks and as we approach the Referendum they say that their poll has shown remarkable consistency with the official polls.
At the end off week 25, Cuckoo’s cupcake opinion poll shows that it is still all to play for with the Undecideds remaining at 8%
YES – 43.2% (-2.1%)
NO – 46.6% (+1.5%)
UNDECIDED – 8.6% (+0.5%)
Graham Savage said: “We have seen an increase in sales generally and some big orders have come in from both sides!” Our poll has been conducted professionally throughout the campaign and we are delighted that the results have shown to be so similar to the official results”
On Monday 15th September we will be issuing the cumulative figures showing the total results of the Opinion Poll since we released the first figures on 7th March.”
Cuckoo’s anticipate that they will have sold 10,000 cupcakes during the period of the Referendum Opinion Poll.
Cuckoo’s display the results in the window and we see people reading them and leave, amused with a smile on their face!
***
People who think they could help a vulnerable child or young person are being urged to consider volunteering for the Children’s Panel as a national tour visits Edinburgh today.
Edinburgh needs 30 new panel members this year in order to ensure the system offers the best support. The tour will visit Edinburgh College’s Sighthill Campus, where panel members and staff will be on hand to explain what the role involves.
Scotland has a single national Children’s Panel, made up of 2,500 volunteer panel members who regularly attend hearings to address the needs and behaviour of young people who face a variety of problems in their lives.
Serious issues such as a child being abused, failing to attend school or committing an offence can lead to them being in front of a panel.
New volunteers are needed every year and this national tour is part of a three week recruitment drive, led by Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS), to attract people from all different backgrounds to this unique role.
Area Convener of the Edinburgh region, Jean Raeburn-Warner, said: “I know from experience how valuable panel members are in helping vulnerable children. Yes, it’s challenging, but there is good training and support. You can make a positive difference in a young person’s life and that is a rewarding experience.
“I’d encourage anyone who might be wondering if this is something they could do to come along to the tour stop so they can hear about our information sessions and find out how to apply.”
Boyd McAdam, National Convener and Chief Executive of Children’s Hearings Scotland, said: “We’re appealing to people in the Edinburgh area who want to improve the lives of vulnerable children.
“This tour allows people who might be considering volunteering to speak to current panel members who can talk about their experiences and answer any questions they might have about what’s involved.
“No two panel members are the same. We’re looking for both men and women of different ages and from different backgrounds. If you have empathy towards the issues some children and young people face, we want to hear from you.”
Applicants need to be 18 or over and no qualifications are required. The deadline for applications is 26 September. To find out more about becoming a panel member, text CHILD to 61611 or visit www.childrenspanelscotland.org.
Information evenings will be held at the following locations and it is essential that potential applicants attend one of these before applying – Today 9 September at Leith Academy, 11 September at Portobello Community Centre, 16 September at City Chambers, 17 September at Gate 55, 55 Sighthill Road, all 7pm – 8.30pm.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
