Snapshot from Jun 25, 2026 at 22:38 UTC. For live data and tracking: View Live
Events / Technology / SMEAR-ULM detects early melanoma
Tech medical breakthrough

SMEAR-ULM detects early melanoma

Analysis based on 6 articles · First reported May 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 08, 2026

Sentiment
70
Attention
4
Articles
6
Market Impact
Direct
Live prominence charts, article sentiment distribution, and event development timeline available on the NewsDesk Dashboard
Market Impact

The development of SMEAR-ULM by the Institut national de la recherche scientifique and Université de Montréal could significantly impact the biotechnology and healthcare sectors by introducing a non-invasive, early detection method for melanoma. This innovation has the potential to reduce healthcare costs associated with biopsies and improve patient outcomes, leading to increased investment and growth opportunities in medical diagnostics.

Biotechnology Healthcare Medical Devices
Event Summary

Scientists from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique and Université de Montréal have developed SMEAR-ULM, a high-tech system for early detection of skin cancer. Led by INRS professor Jinyang Liang, the technology uses a temporary 'intelligent tattoo' of nanoparticles to measure subtle temperature variations caused by cancer cells. This non-invasive method, successfully tested on mice, can detect micro-melanomas as early as four days old, a stage typically missed by conventional imaging. The findings, published in Nature Sensors, promise to reduce unnecessary biopsies, improve diagnostic accuracy, and support clinical decision-making, with potential applications beyond skin cancer detection.

Key Actions
90 Jinyang Liang led research team
70 Yingming Lai authored study
Entities Involved
per
Jinyang Liang
Jinyang Liang, an INRS professor, is the senior author and research leader of the study, specializing in ultrafast imaging and biophotonics, and is crucial to the development of SMEAR-ULM.
Importance 95 Sentiment 75
per
Yingming Lai
Yingming Lai, an INRS postdoctoral fellow and first author of the study, played a significant role in the technical aspects of SMEAR-ULM, particularly in capturing instantaneous temperature maps.
Importance 70 Sentiment 60
oth
Nature Sensors
Nature Sensors is the scientific journal where the findings of the SMEAR-ULM research were published, providing a platform for disseminating this medical breakthrough.
Importance 40 Sentiment 50
per
Fiorenzo Vetrone
Fiorenzo Vetrone, an INRS professor, led one of the collaborating research teams involved in the SMEAR-ULM project.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
per
Davide Brambilla
Davide Brambilla, a pharmacology professor at Université de Montréal, led one of the collaborating research teams for the SMEAR-ULM project.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
per
Sylvain Meloche
Sylvain Meloche, a medical professor at Université de Montréal and researcher at UdeM's Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, is a co-corresponding author of the study.
Importance 30 Sentiment 50
cnt
Canada
Canada is the country where melanoma incidence is rising, highlighting the need for early detection technologies like SMEAR-ULM, and where the research was conducted.
Importance 20 Sentiment 20
govactor
Canada — Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
The Canada — Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) provided funding support for the SMEAR-ULM research.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
ngo
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society provided funding support for the SMEAR-ULM research.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
govactor
Canada — Canadian Institutes of Health Research
The Canada — Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) provided funding support for the SMEAR-ULM research.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
ngo
Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association
The Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association provided support for the SMEAR-ULM project.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
oth
Biosimilars Canada
Biosimilars Canada provided support for the SMEAR-ULM project.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
ngo
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK provided statistics on melanoma incidence in the UK, highlighting the global relevance of early detection technologies.
Importance 10 Sentiment 10
cnt
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is mentioned in the context of rising melanoma cases, indicating the global need for improved diagnostic tools.
Importance 5 Sentiment 0
NEWSDESK
Track this event live

Set up alerts, explore entity relationships, search across thousands of events, and build custom intelligence feeds.

Open Dashboard

About NewsDesk

NewsDesk is a news intelligence platform that converts raw news articles into structured data. It tracks events, entities, and the relationships between them, with sentiment and attention metrics derived from thousands of articles. Pages on this site are daily static snapshots from the platform's live database. For real-time tracking, search, and alerts, the full dashboard is at app.newsdesk.dev.