“Early testing of an iPhone app developed to detect melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – found an accuracy rate of around 85 percent,” Ben Lovejoy reports for 9to5Mac. “This is similar to that achieved by specialist dermatologists, and more accurate than examination by primary care physicians.”
“The DermoScreen app was developed by University of Houston professor of engineering technology, George Zouridakis,” Lovejoy reports. “A $500 dermoscope – a combined magnifying lens and light – is attached to the back of the iPhone, and the iPhone camera used to take a photo of a suspicious mole or lesion.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Very promising! This thing could end up saving many lives.
The most dangerous form of skin cancer, these cancerous growths develop when unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations (genetic defects) that lead the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors. These tumors originate in the pigment-producing melanocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis. Melanomas often resemble moles; some develop from moles. The majority of melanomas are black or brown, but they can also be skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white. Melanoma is caused mainly by intense, occasional UV exposure (frequently leading to sunburn), especially in those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Melanoma kills an estimated 8,790 people in the US annually.
If melanoma is recognized and treated early, it is almost always curable, but if it is not, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body, where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. While it is not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most deaths. The American Cancer Society estimates that at present, about 120,000 new cases of melanoma in the US are diagnosed in a year. In 2010, about 68,130 of these were invasive melanomas, with about 38,870 in males and 29,260 in women. – SkinCancer.org
Learn more via The Skin Cancer Foundation.
amazing.
Yes, but it’s based on science. I deny it’s real!
I had a reddish Melanoma removed from my arm. Then a wide area excision of skin around it. No fun.
I hope this app works and lots of people use it.
Does dermoscope have FDA approval?
These sorts of inventions are so important in making skin checks more accessible. In Australia, where I’m from, incidence of melanoma is amongst the highest in the world. Quite a number of people I know have had them taken out, but others will be too late. Anything to increase early detection should be seriously investigated.