Dermatoscopy

Dermatoscopy also known as dermoscopy or epiluminescence microscopy, is the examination of skin lesions with a dermatoscope. It is a tool similar to a camera to allow for inspection of skin lesions unobstructed by skin surface reflections. The dermatoscope consists of a magnifier, a light source (polarized or non-polarised), a transparent plate and sometimes a liquid medium between the instrument and the skin. The dermatoscope is often handheld, although there are stationary cameras allowing the capture of whole body images in a single shot. When the images or video clips are digitally captured or processed, the instrument can be referred to as a digital epiluminescence dermatoscope. The image is then analyzed automatically and given a score indicating how dangerous it is. This technique is useful to dermatologists and skin cancer practitioners in distinguishing benign from malignant (cancerous) lesions, especially in the diagnosis of melanoma. There are two main types of dermatoscopes, hand held portable and stationary mounted type. A hand held dermatoscope is composed of a transilluminating light source and a magnifying optic (usually a 10-fold magnification). There are three main modes of dermatoscopy: Nonpolarized light, contact Polarized light, contact Polarized light, noncontact Polarized light allows for visualization of deeper skin structures, while non-polarized light provide information about the superficial skin. Most modern dermatoscopes allow the user to toggle between the two modes, which provide complementary information. Others may also allow the user to have different zoom levels and color overlay. A stationary type allows a full body image to be captured in one snap. It is then transferred into image analysis algorithms that generates a three dimensional model of the person. Lesions on the person are marked and analyzed using Artificial intelligence. With doctors who are experts in dermatoscopy, the diagnostic accuracy for melanoma is significantly better than those who do not have any specialized training.