TY  - JOUR
T1  - DIagnostic inaccuracy of smartphone applications for melanoma detection
AU  - Wolf JA, Moreau JF, Akilov O, et al
Y1  - 2013/04/01
N1  - 10.1001/jamadermatol.2013.2382
JO  - JAMA Dermatology
SP  - 422
EP  - 426
VL  - 149
IS  - 4
N2  - Objective 
                  To measure the performance of smartphone applications that evaluate photographs of skin lesions and provide the user with feedback about the likelihood of malignancy.Design 
                  Case-control diagnostic accuracy study.Setting 
                  Academic dermatology department.Participants and Materials 
                  Digital clinical images of pigmented cutaneous lesions (60 melanoma and 128 benign control lesions) with a histologic diagnosis rendered by a board-certified dermatopathologist, obtained before biopsy from patients undergoing lesion removal as a part of routine care.Main Outcome Measures 
                  Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 4 smartphone applications designed to aid nonclinician users in determining whether their skin lesion is benign or malignant.Results 
                  Sensitivity of the 4 tested applications ranged from 6.8% to 98.1%; specificity, 30.4% to 93.7%; positive predictive value, 33.3% to 42.1%; and negative predictive value, 65.4% to 97.0%. The highest sensitivity for melanoma diagnosis was observed for an application that sends the image directly to a board-certified dermatologist for analysis; the lowest, for applications that use automated algorithms to analyze images.Conclusions 
                  The performance of smartphone applications in assessing melanoma risk is highly variable, and 3 of 4 smartphone applications incorrectly classified 30% or more of melanomas as unconcerning. Reliance on these applications, which are not subject to regulatory oversight, in lieu of medical consultation can delay the diagnosis of melanoma and harm users.
SN  - 2168-6068
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2013.2382
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2013.2382
ER  -