Tuesday Jun 28th, 2011

As we’re busy covering melanoma at various congresses at the moment and we’ve just had a heat wave in the UK I thought this was timely. We just love useful apps like this.

Skin Scan is a cool new app that could drastically reduce the cases in which people reach a medic when it’s too late and far more expensive by bringing a revolutionary screening method to potentially everyone’s home. Well, those with an iPhone.

This app uses a proprietary mathematical algorithm to calculate the fractal dimension of the mole and surrounding skin and to build a structural map that reveals the different growth patterns of the tissues involved. By processing this map, Skin Scan is able to see if the mole has an abnormal development and to alert the user if a medical visit is required. It is a skin cancer prevention tool that provides a risk assessment on the spot.

“Skin Scan is the easiest way to check your moles and their development. This idea, to analyse skin lesions by their fractal dimension, is excellent. I also used this application with my patients and the results are very encouraging.” Dermatologist Kostas Koutsioukis, member of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)

Based on specific mathematical algorithms, Skin Scan is a skin cancer prevention tool which tells users when to look for a professional medical investigation. Loosely speaking, Skin Scan is an automated classification tool for potentially dangerous moles.

If it’s accurate, it’s a great tool that can make a huge difference to early diagnosis and therefore improve outcomes in this nasty cancer. On the downside, lawsuits could emerge fast if the app tells someone a cancerous mole is benign.

You can get the app here