Can this be mobile cameras to discover potential new cancer detection method in the eye? A theory of one of the parents has been studied at Harvard Medical School, suggesting that pictures of children with "white eye" or leucocorie could be the first signs of cancer development known as the retinoblastoma.
retinoblastoma develops in the retina, the tissue in one eye that detects light for the brain to interpret. Retinoblastoma is one of the most common forms of eye cancer in children, and is recognized by the white eye in photos of children with the disease. If the cancer is left undiagnosed for too long, it could prove fatal to children if it spreads to the brain.
· In the clinical analysis, 95 percent of children in the United States treated for retinoblastoma will probably survive
· children in developing countries, on the other hand, have only a 50 percent survival rate
· researchers believe that medical technology in developing countries can not catch the first signs of retinoblastoma
Bryan Shaw, who holds a doctorate in chemistry and biochemistry, had a theory about white eyes when his son Noah was diagnosed with retinoblastoma. According to Shaw, doctors usually do not rely on digital photography for testing as retinoblastoma white eye was until now considered a symptom of an advanced stage cancer.
Shaw and his wife Elizabeth noticed white eye in the mobile phone photographs of Noah, and photos submitted for a clinical study of 28 children - 9 with retinoblastoma, and 19 without. Based on the initial analysis, Shaw was able to determine that the white eye can alert parents and doctors to the possibility of retinoblastoma in children in the early stages.
"Leukocoria can emerge in the low stage retinoblastoma early rate and increase in frequency during the disease progression and a decrease in disease remission."
Shaw took his theory to his colleague, Dr. Shizuo Mukai at Harvard Medical School, who also removed tumors from Noah to send the cancer into remission. Dr. Mukai co-author of an advanced study of the theory that Shaw described as the foundation for the software "to alert parents unsuspecting to the emergence of recurrent leucocorie."
Shaw believes that if the study paves the way for the technology software detection for white eyes, it will save thousands of lives, especially children in developing countries.
"If we can create software that can detect leucocorie and alert a parent when it starts to happen consistently, then I think digital photography can eradicate retinoblastoma metastatic this world and prevent most deaths occurring "
The long and short of it -. continue taking pictures of your kids as they could potentially provide vital clues about your child healthy.