Diagnostic expertise: Mohs and Skin Cancer Specialist
There is much to love about New Zealand – our beaches, forests, rivers and mountains, and nobody celebrates their great outdoors quite like us, but in doing so, we run the risk of over-exposing our skin to the damaging radiation of the sun. Mohs and Skin Cancer Specialist are here to help detect early signs of harmful skin damage.
“It’s not just sunbathing that’s a danger; it can be gardening, walking, biking, or any kind of outdoor activity,” says dermatologist Dr Mairi-Clare Ferguson.
New Zealand and the southern hemisphere tilts closer to the sun during our summer. We have a high number of clear sky days and our ozone layer is thin; this results in New Zealand having some of the highest solar radiation in the world.
Fortunately for us, Mohs and Skin Cancer Specialist has combined diagnostic expertise with cutting-edge technology that facilitates detection of skin cancers in their earliest stages.
“FotoFinder is the big point of difference here,” Mairi-Clare says. “The clarity of the images is outstanding. We can use this tool to monitor lesions for change. We can re-image the same lesion at different time intervals, and the technology will detect any minute changes in the lesions before they are visible to the human eye.”
Dermoscopy is an imaging technique using polarisation, which allows the clinician to see into the surface levels of the skin. There are many dermatoscopes on the market but the FotoFinder Medi-cam is world-leading in this field.
“The Medicam allows up to 100 times magnification without losing any clarity in detail. That’s how incredible the camera is. The lesion is displayed on the large monitor which means the important details can be easily shown and explained to the patient,” Mairi-Clare says.
What patients really value about this clinic is that the patient has their skin examined by the doctor, and a management plan will be explained and provided to the patient during that appointment.
Also offered are all types of medical and surgical removal of skin cancers, meaning the patients do not need to look elsewhere for treatment once a cancer has been diagnosed.
“In addition, we are one of the few practices in the South Island offering the gold standard procedure for removal of skin cancers on the face, called Mohs’ micrographic surgery. This technique has the highest cure rates, while leaving the smallest possible defect after tumour removal,” Mairi-Clare says.
“We are experts in diagnosing skin cancer, and with the reassurance of precise digital monitoring, we can reduce the number of unnecessary excisions. For patients that do require surgical removal of a lesion, this will be provided ‘in-house’, saving patients time and providing peace of mind.”
