Researchers prove the use of smartphones to detect skin cancer

IBM Research workers are working on the use of the phone camera to identify melanoma markers

   Researchers at IBM Research are working on the use of the phone's camera to identify melanoma markers through analysis of skin images made with the mobile phone and detect skin cancer.

Dermascope, as the system is called, works by storing the images and comparing them with photographs from the skin cancer database, in order to estimate the likelihood that the lesion is melanoma or not.

A system that, they explain, is more precious than that of dermatologists: 76% of correct answers of the artificial intelligence system compared to 70% of dermatologists.

   The methodology is simple, according to Mashable: when someone sees a questionable point on their skin, they use the phone's camera, take a photograph in the exact place and send the image to be evaluated by an analysis service that recognizes and identifies reliably if it is a disease or not thanks to a large database.

The researcher Noel Codella, in charge of this research, explains that tools like this could help a doctor to quickly check if there is or there is no risk to the skin, since "emergency dermatologists are not always available." "The IBM computer system can work as a substitute," explains Codella.

However, it is not yet known when this technology could be available to the public and described it as "a research project".