Details

Written by UTA Tel Aviv University

Published: 15 April 2021

New technological development is expected to revolutionize the field of skin cancer diagnosis

For the first time, an optical technology will make possible 

an automatic and immediate melanoma diagnosis, 

saving many patients' lives

• This innovative technology, which is based on special optical fibers, can distinguish between a benign lesion on the skin and a malignant one, using a non-invasive, immediate, and automatic process.

• The technology can also distinguish between types of skin cancer, such as melanoma, a life-threatening type of cancer, and malignancies that are not as dangerous. 

• The technology was used successfully on about one hundred patients at a major hospital in Israel.

For the first time, melanoma can be diagnosed automatically in real time. An innovative optical technology that can distinguish between different types of cancer -- melanoma, which is considered extremely deadly - has been developed in the laboratory of Professor Abraham Katzir, from the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences at Tel Aviv University. The diagnosis is rapid, non-invasive, and causes no pain to the patient. This technology was tried successfully on about one hundred patients in a major hospital in Israel. The findings were published in the Journal Medical Physics. 

Professor Katzir says that in the case of melanoma, immediate diagnosis can save lives. He goes on to explain that when a suspicious lesion is found on the skin, during a routine examination, it is removed in a minor surgical procedure and sent to a laboratory for testing. A pathologist diagnoses the lesion and determines whether it is melanoma. In most cases where melanoma is discovered early, when it is still superficial and less than one-millimeter-thick and it is removed, the patient recovers. Late diagnosis, when the melanoma is more than one-millimeter-thick, significantly reduces the chances of recovery and is life-threatening. 

"The idea that guided us in developing the technology was that in the visible range, there are various substances, having various colors, which are not characteristic of each substance.  On the other hand, in the infrared region, various substances have different ‘colors’ of a sort, depending on the chemical makeup of each substance," says Professor Katzir. "Therefore, we figured that with the help of devices that can identify these ’colors’, healthy skin and each of the benign and malignant lesions would have different ’colors’ which would enable us to identify melanoma." 

Professor Katzir's research group developed special optical fibers that are transparent in the infrared. The group, in collaboration with physicists Professor Yosef Raichlin of Ariel University, Dr. Max Platkov of the Negev Nuclear Research Center, and Svetlana Bassov of Professor Katzir's group, developed a system, based on these fibers, which is suitable for the requirements of evaluating skin. The researchers connected one end of this type of fiber to a device that measures the ’colors’ in the infrared, and touched the other end lightly, for several seconds, to a lesion on a patient's skin. The fiber made it possible to check the ’color’ of the lesion right away. 

According to Professor Katzir, clinical trials were carried out on suspicious lesions in about one hundred patients. With the help of the new system, physicists performed measurements of the ’color’ of each lesion, before it was removed and sent to a pathology laboratory. The researchers showed that all of the lesions that were determined by pathologists as being of a certain type, such as melanoma, had a characteristic ’color’ in the infrared. Each lesion of a different type had a different ’color’. 

"This technology gives us a kind of 'fingerprint' that makes a clear diagnosis of the various lesions possible, by measuring their characteristic ’colors’, says Professor Katzir. "In this way, lesions can be diagnosed using a non-invasive optical method, and the physician and the patient receive the results automatically and immediately.  This is unlike the test that is routinely used, which involves surgery, and the pathological diagnosis takes a long time." Following the success of the study, the researchers plan to confirm the evaluation method on hundreds of patients. 

In conclusion, Professor Katzir says: "Melanoma is a life-threatening cancer, so it is very important to diagnose it early on, when it is still superficial. The innovative system will enable every dermatologist to determine the character of a suspicious lesion automatically, and particularly if it is melanoma. This system has the potential to cause a dramatic change in the field of diagnosing and treating skin cancer, and perhaps other types of cancer as well. The challenge will be to make this technology, which is still expensive, something that will be used in every hospital or clinic."

Photo (Prof. Katzir using the technology) credit: Tel Aviv University.

Details

Written by Steven Aiello

Published: 24 December 2020

A historic event over Hanukkah illuminated the history of Jews from the former Yugoslavia.

The Alexander forest, named for King Alexander of Yugoslavia, hosted an outdoor, Covid-19 compliant, Hanukkah celebration.

For several years now, a project led by Mr. Yosi Solomon has brought the descendants of Macedonian Jews on a heritage trip to North Macedonia on the anniversary of the day when the Jewish Macedonian community was rounded up and deported to concentration camps. This year due to Covid 19 restrictions we were unable to carry out the trip. 

In light of that, a special memorial ceremony was held in the Alexander River Park, where a path was recently cleared where a monument to the park’s namesake, King Alexander of Yugoslavia, lies. The park received its name when, at the initiative of a kibbutz member named Hillel Livni, Jews from Yugoslavia donated funds to the Keren Kayemet Leyisrael (KKL) in the 1930s. Subsequently, the king of Yugoslavia, Peter II, visited several times, even living in Jerusalem briefly when there was a coup.

After all this time, shrubs had overgrown the original marker to King Alexander, and its story had likewise become hidden to many passersby. After the area was cleaned, the Hanukkah memorial ceremony was a rededication to the history of Yugoslavian Jewry. 

The event followed the “1000 Menorah” project, led by Dr. Rachel Shelly Levi Drummer, chair of the NGO for the commemoration of the Jews of Bitola-Monastir, together with Israeli Ambassador to North Macedonia Mr. Dan Oryan, joined in the event. During this project, 1,000 Menorahs were lit by special-needs children in North Macedonia, and the remaining Jewish community left in Skopje, as well as Jews in Israel, and the President of North Macedonia together with Isaac Herzog, chair of the Jewish Agency.

At the ceremony, along with a rededication to the stone that has stood there for 85 years now (since 1935), diplomats and descendants of Yugoslavian Jews lit candles in commemoration of the Jewish communities of the former Yugoslavia, including the children of Hillel Livni.

Photo Boaz Lanir

Details

Written by Israel Ministry of Defense

Published: 23 February 2021

Israeli and German Defense Ministries Sign Agreement to Equip the German Military with the TROPHY APS

The Israel Ministry of Defense and the German Federal Ministry of Defense signed a government-to-government agreement to supply Rafael’s TROPHY active protection system to the German military, for their fleet of LEOPARD 2 tanks. The program was led by the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), in the Ministry of Defense and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Defense Minister, Benny Gantz: “Once again, we see the appreciation that leading security institutions around the world have for Israel's innovation and technology. Like any development of the Directorate of Defense R&D (MAFAT), the TROPHY is first and foremost a life-saving measure. It is the product of Israel’s groundbreaking defense industry, which is crucial to strengthening the state’s security. Germany’s expression of confidence in an Israeli system emphasizes the important relationship and close cooperation between our countries and highlights the strength of Israel’s industries.”

The agreement was signed by the Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Eshel, and by an official in the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service-Support. It includes the provision of systems for a company of tanks, interceptors, and spare parts as well as operational and technical training. The systems will be delivered over the next several years.

Head of the Directorate of Research and Development in the DDR&D, Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem: “This is a significant agreement, which further deepens the excellent relations between our countries. We thank the German Ministry of Defense for its expression of confidence in our defense establishment and in Israel’s industries. We are confident that the system will maximize the protection and capabilities of Germany’s MBTs.

” Head of the Combat Division of the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support, Colonel Jürgen Schmidt: "We are looking forward to use the very well-established Israeli TROPHY System for the protection of our Main Battle Tank LEOPARD 2. We would like to thank the Ministry of Defense of the State of ISRAEL for its excellent cooperation with respect to advanced active protection systems for the benefit of German troops.

" EVP and Head of Rafael’s Land and Naval Systems Division, Dr. Ran Gozali: “Germany is joining a group of nations who have chosen the TROPHY APS to protect their troops and assets from the ever-increasing threat of anti-armor warfare. We are thankful to the German government for joining other user nations and for their confidence in our system and our experience, and we look forward to working with KMW.”

 Background Information:The TROPHY system produced by Rafael, is considered among the world’s most effective active protection systems, securing armored vehicles from a range of anti-tank missiles and rocket fire. It is a combat-proven mechanism that has been operational in the IDF for many years, and is integrated in the Merkava Mark IV and Namer APCs. Its capabilities have been demonstrated in numerous military operations and has saved the lives of countless IDF soldiers. 

Video: https://we.tl/t-saoztnjk7t?src=dnl

Image Credit: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann

Video Credit: Rafael

Details

Written by Silvia G. Golan

Published: 20 December 2020