Abstract
Teledermatology is the remote delivery of dermatologic services and clinical information using telecommunications technology. One of the main potential benefits of teledermatology is providing patients and primary care physicians, especially those in medically underserved and remote communities, access to dermatologists. Other foreseeable benefits include improving healthcare access and delivery, reducing wait times for physician visits, and increasing overall cost savings. As the field of teledermatology has continued to expand, teledermoscopy, which involves the transmission of dermoscopic images in order to obtain a remote diagnosis of pigmented or non-pigmented skin lesions and rashes, is increasingly being utilized. However, very few studies have examined how teledermoscopy affects diagnostic accuracy in teledermatology. In this comprehensive review of the literature, we provide a summary of studies involving teledermoscopy, its uses, its advantages, and some of its future barriers and challenges.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lallas A, Zalaudek I, Argenziano G, Longo C, Moscarella E, Di Lernia V, et al. Dermoscopy in general dermatology [In eng]. Dermatol Clin. 2013;31:679–94.
Kittler H, Seltenheim M, Pehamberger H, Wolff K, Binder M. Diagnostic informativeness of compressed digital epiluminescence microscopy images of pigmented skin lesions compared with photographs [In eng]. Melanoma Res. 1998;8:255–60.
Provost N, Kopf AW, Rabinovitz HS, Stolz W, DeDavid M, Wasti Q, et al. Comparison of conventional photographs and telephonically transmitted compressed digitized images of melanomas and dysplastic nevi [In eng]. Dermatology. 1998;196:299–304.
Piccolo D, Smolle J, Wolf IH, Peris K, Hofmann-Wellenhof R, Dell’Eva G, et al. Face-to-face diagnosis vs telediagnosis of pigmented skin tumors: a teledermoscopic study [In eng]. Arch Dermatol. 1999;135:1467–71.
Piccolo D, Smolle J, Argenziano G, Wolf IH, Braun R, Cerroni L, et al. Teledermoscopy—results of a multicentre study on 43 pigmented skin lesions [In eng]. J Telemed Telecare. 2000;6:132–7.
Wohltmann W. Teledermoscopy of pigmented lesions: a pilot study. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2011;64:AB76.
Sheraz A, Halpern S. Influence of additional dermoscopy images on teledermatology screening of skin lesions. Br J Dermatol. 2011;165:136.
Warshaw EM, Lederle FA, Grill JP, Gravely AA, Bangerter AK, Fortier LA, et al. Accuracy of teledermatology for pigmented neoplasms [In eng]. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009;61:753–65.
Kroemer S, Fruhauf J, Campbell TM, Massone C, Schwantzer G, Soyer HP, et al. Mobile teledermatology for skin tumour screening: diagnostic accuracy of clinical and dermoscopic image tele-evaluation using cellular phones [In eng]. Br J Dermatol. 2011;164:973–9.
Massone C, Brunasso AM, Hofmann-Wellenhof R, Gulia A, Soyer HP. Teledermoscopy: education, discussion forums, teleconsulting and mobile teledermoscopy [In eng]. G Ital Dermatol Venereol. 2010;145:127–32.
Binder M, Kittler H, Dreiseitl S, Ganster H, Wolff K, Pehamberger H. Computer-aided epiluminescence microscopy of pigmented skin lesions: the value of clinical data for the classification process [In eng]. Melanoma Res. 2000;10:556–61.
Stolz W, Schiffner R, Pillet L, Vogt T, Harms H, Schindewolf T, et al. Improvement of monitoring of melanocytic skin lesions with the use of a computerized acquisition and surveillance unit with a skin surface microscopic television camera [In eng]. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1996;35:202–7.
Ross EK, Vincenzi C, Tosti A. Videodermoscopy in the evaluation of hair and scalp disorders [In eng]. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006;55:799–806.
Gewirtzman AJ, Braun RP. Computerized digital dermoscopy [In eng]. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2003;2:14–20.
Nami N, Massone C, Rubegni P, Cevenini G, Fimiani M, Hofmann-Wellenhof R. Concordance and time estimation of store-and-forward mobile teledermatology compared to classical face-to-face consultation [In eng]. Acta Derm Venereol. 2015;95:35–9.
Barbieri, J. S., C. A. Nelson, K. D. Bream, and C. L. Kovarik: Primary care providers’ perceptions of mobile store-and-forward teledermatology [In eng]. Dermatol Online J 21, 2015
Oakley AM. Mobile teledermatology is here to stay [In eng]. Br J Dermatol. 2015;172:856–7.
Blum A, Hofmann-Wellenhof R, Luedtke H, Ellwanger U, Steins A, Roehm S, et al. Value of the clinical history for different users of dermoscopy compared with results of digital image analysis [In eng]. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2004;18:665–9.
Tan E, Yung A, Jameson M, Oakley A, Rademaker M. Successful triage of patients referred to a skin lesion clinic using teledermoscopy (iImage It Trial) [In eng]. Br J Dermatol. 2010;162:803–11.
Borve A, Terstappen K, Sandberg C, Paoli J. Mobile teledermoscopy—there’s an app for that! [In eng]. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2013;3:41–8.
Tan E, Oakley A, Soyer HP, Haskett M, Marghoob A, Jameson M, et al. Interobserver variability of teledermoscopy: an international study [In eng]. Br J Dermatol. 2010;163:1276–81.
Fabbrocini G, Balato A, Rescigno O, Mariano M, Scalvenzi M, Brunetti B. Telediagnosis and face-to-face diagnosis reliability for melanocytic and non-melanocytic ‘pink’ lesions [In eng]. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2008;22:229–34.
Senel E, Baba M, Durdu M. The contribution of teledermatoscopy to the diagnosis and management of non-melanocytic skin tumours [In eng]. J Telemed Telecare. 2013;19:60–3.
Warshaw EM, Hillman YJ, Greer NL, Hagel EM, MacDonald R, Rutks IR, et al. Teledermatology for diagnosis and management of skin conditions: a systematic review [In eng]. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2011;64:759–72.
van der Heijden JP, Thijssing L, Witkamp L, Spuls PI, de Keizer NF. Accuracy and reliability of teledermatoscopy with images taken by general practitioners during everyday practice [In eng]. J Telemed Telecare. 2013;19:320–5.
Acknowledgement
We thank Mr. Eric Arch for his contributions in preparing the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
Sean Ranjit Singh, Arjun P. Meka, Dr. Gloria Nguyen, and Dr. Trilokraj Tejasvi declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Teledermatology
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, S.R., Meka, A.P., Nguyen, G. et al. Teledermoscopy for Teledermatology. Curr Derm Rep 5, 71–76 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13671-016-0133-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13671-016-0133-x