Phase Holographic Imaging AB of Sweden is collaborating with the University of California, San Francisco, to bring label-free holographic imaging cytometry technology to skin cancer research.

University scientists will use an upgraded version the Phase Holographic's HoloMonitor M4 while working to establish best practices for simultaneous detection of changes in cell proliferation, death and motility in primary human melanomas and cultured melanocytes. The team had been using an earlier version of the device since 2014.

Melanoma accounts for less than 2 percent of skin cancers but contributes to a large majority of skin cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society, which projects that more than 70,0000 new diagnoses and close to 10,000 related deaths in the U.S. in 2015.

"Our mission is to develop an understanding of human melanoma by engineering its progression in vitro, and use this knowledge to drive discoveries in prevention, diagnostics and treatment of this deadly disease," said lead investigator Robert Judson, a faculty fellow at the university.

"As a label-free, nontoxic imaging system, the M4 provides us the means to begin investigating the immediate reaction of melanoma cells to acute environmental and genetic stimuli," Judson said. "The new instrument, equipped with motorized stage and advanced data acquisition software, will bring additional benefits of automated walk-away analysis and higher throughput."

Phase Holographic Imaging develops time-lapse cytometry instrumentation and software for long-term quantitative analysis of living cell dynamics that circumvent the drawbacks of traditional methods requiring toxic stains.

For more information, visit www.phiab.se.