#117: Dermascopy

There has been, over the last decade, a huge upsurge in concern about skin cancer. Certainly, everyone I know has heard the stories about people going to their doctor a week after finding a small black spot on their skin, only to be told that it’s just too late and they have ‘had their chips’.

But how are you supposed to inspect your skin for the appearance of scary blemishes, in areas that you can’t see with even a handmirror and some teeth-gritted contortions?

Today’s invention is a personal periscope (containing a Fresnel magnifier). Basically a four-bend version of the standard two-bend periscope, this would allow anyone, even those with poor eyesight or serious joint immobility to inspect those hard-to-reach reaches of their own rear view.

It might even contain one of those £10 digital cameras for sale in Tesco so that images of some offending spot could be stored, monitored over time and relayed to one’s GP (assuming it’s not the weekend, of course).