Abstract
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in humans regardless of age, gender, or race. One of the most common malignant skin cancers is melanoma, which is a dangerous proliferation of melanocytes. In the last several years, an increasing melanoma incidence has been observed worldwide, and the incidence rate is increasing faster than those of any other skin cancer. The correct identification and diagnosis of moles still creates problems to inexperienced dermatologists and family physicians. In this paper, we present a new approach to the problem of assessing difficult cases in dermatology. We propose a teledermatology system to support the consultation process between family physicians and experts in the field of dermoscopic images. The system consists of a desktop monitoring application and a special smartphone application implemented for experts. If necessary, the physician can send the dermoscopic image to two dermatologists for further examination. This cloud-based architecture provides an interesting system for a fast and efficient exchange of dermatological information. Initial results and assessment of doctors are promising and indicate that the application can be used as a decision support system for dermoscopic images.
Acknowledgments
National Research Center grant DEC-2011/01/N/ST7/06783 and AGH University of Science and Technology grants 11.11.120.612 and 15.11.120.408.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: Scientific work was partly supported by the AGH University of Science and Technology (project number 11.11.120.612). The work of Joanna Jaworek-Korjakowska was funded by the National Research Center based on the decision number DEC-2011/01/N/ST7/06783 and the AGH research grant 15.11.120.408.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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