Method and Apparatus for Skin Cancer Thermal Therapy

An apparatus for treatment of soft tissue includes a source of radiation, a handpiece which is adapted to transmit radiation emitted from the source of radiation to a region of soft tissue, resulting in irradiated soft tissue, said handpiece being positioned adjacent to or in contact with said soft tissue region, a grid element adapted to hold at least one temperature sensor in contact with or embedded in said region of soft tissue, and a microprocessor, which converts a signal from the at least one temperature sensor into a measure of damage produced in at least two components of the irradiated soft tissue, said components comprising at least one normal tissue component and at least one malignant, hypertrophic, diseased, or unwanted component.