Psoriasis is a skin disease that affects 2% of the population. One of the common ways of treating this condition is to expose patients to ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation. Measuring the sensitivity of patients' skin to UV radiation before they embark on a course of UVB treatment for their skin disease can make the treatment more effective. This measurement, or phototest, involves exposing small areas of skin to increasing doses of UVB radiation and noting the smallest dose (called the minimal erythema dose or MED) that results in a slight redness of the test site 24 hours after exposure.
The Durham UVB Erythema Test Device was designed by physicists Phil Saunders and Professor Brian Diffey to make phototesting a simple, quick and reproducible exercise that can be carried out with the minimum of training. Just a single exposure lasting around 30 seconds results in a series of 10 doses of UVB covering an 8-fold dose range.
A licensing agreement to manufacture this device has been negotiated with Hybec Limited, a Miyakawa Corporation Company of Japan with effect from August 2002.
For further details contact:
Dieter Rudolph
Hybec Limited
Unit 9 Barrington Industrial Estate
Leycroft Road
Leicester LE4 1ET
Telephone: 0116 234 2929
Facsimile: 0116 235 8810
E-mail: hls@hybec.com
www.hybec.com
Regional Medical Physics Department, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK.
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Regional Medical Physics Department, a Clinical Directorate of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
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