Health & Medicine - Posted by Nicole Fawcett-Michigan on Thursday, July 12, 2012 15:57 - 8 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Skin cancer app tracks changes head to toe
A free app guides users through a series of 23 photos, covering the body from head to toe. Photos are stored within the app and serve as a baseline for future comparisons. The app will create a reminder to repeat a skin self-exam on a regular basis. (Credit: iStockphoto)
U. MICHIGAN (US) — A free app for iPhone and iPad lets users take photos of their skin and monitor changes over time for signs of melanoma.
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
The app, UMSkinCheck, sends automatic reminders and offers step-by-step instructions for a skin self-exam. It also provides pictures of various types of skin cancers for comparisons.
“Whole body photography is a well-established resource for following patients at risk for melanoma. However, it requires a professional photographer, is not always covered by insurance, and can be an inconvenience. Now that many people have digital cameras on their phones, it’s more feasible to do this at home,” says Michael Sabel, associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, who was the lead physician involved in developing the app.
UMSkinCheck is intended for skin cancer self exam and surveillance that allows users to complete and store a full body photographic library, track detected moles/lesions, access informational videos and literature, and fill out a melanoma risk calculator. (Credit: University of Michigan)
More than 2 million Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, and some 50,000 will be diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious kind. Regular skin checks can help people discover melanoma in its earliest stages.
The app guides users through a series of 23 photos, covering the body from head to toe. Photos are stored within the app and serve as a baseline for future comparisons. The app will create a reminder to repeat a skin self-exam on a regular basis.
If a mole appears to be changing or growing, the photos can then be shared with a dermatologist to help determine whether a biopsy is necessary.
“We recommend skin self-exams for everyone in order to detect skin cancer at the earliest stages, when treatment is less invasive and more successful. If you have fair skin or burn easily, have had sunburns in the past or used tanning beds, or have a family history of melanoma, you are considered high-risk, and so it’s even more important,” Sabel says.
Not sure if you’re at high risk of skin cancer? The app includes a risk calculator that allows you to input your personal data to calculate your individual risk.
Download UMSkinCheck on iTunes.
More news from the University of Michigan: www.umich.edu/News-events/
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8 Comments
Hi Maria – This is Nicole Fawcett from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The app takes you through the process of taking 23 different photos of your body, from head to toe. For example, one photos is of your arm from the shoulder to your wrist. Another captures your leg from the thigh to the shin. And so on. The photos are then stored within the app. This is an important part of a skin self-exam and allows you to see if there are any changes to your skin over time. In addition, the app allows you to track specific moles by taking close-up pictures of that mole. Hope this helps.
Thanks for clarifying that, Nicole. Makes sense. That will certainly be a valuable tool for early detection of skin cancer and melanoma. High risk individuals should be made aware of it. If older generations don’t have a mobile phone, I hope their kids or grandkids will reach out to them as well. I like that it has a high risk calculator, which educates and raises awareness. I like this a lot.
Jennifer
Are they coming out with a similar app for android devices? I would love to use this but don’t have an iphone.
Phil
Does the app work on an Ipad? Thanks.
Phil
I did find the Ipad app, thanks
Hi – The developers are working on an Android version. Stay tuned! Currently there is an iPhone and iPad version. Thanks.
such a great app.is this functionally shows correct things? if yes than it will be very useful who never go outside.
So, are people supposed to upload naked full body shots to this app or just closeups of existing moles? I don’t see people being comfortable with the first. Please explain how it works for the user. Thanks.