Redesigning Skin Cancer Early Detection and Care Using a New Mobile Health Application: Protocol of the SKIN Research Project, a Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

Patients often detect melanoma themselves; therefore, regular skin self-examinations (SSEs) play an important role in the early detection and prompt treatment of melanoma. Mobile teledermoscopy is a technology that may facilitate consumer SSEs and rapid communication with a dermatologist. This paper describes the planned randomised controlled trial of an intervention to determine whether mobile technologies can help improve the precision of SSE in consumers. A randomised controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate mobile teledermoscopy-enhanced SSE versus naked-eye SSE. Participants in each group will conduct three home whole-body SSEs at baseline, 1 and 2 months, then present for a clinical skin examination (CSE) by a doctor after the 2-month SSE. Specifically, participants will identify skin lesions that meet the AC (asymmetry and colour) rule for detecting a suspicious skin spot. The primary outcomes are sensitivity and specificity of the skin lesions selected by the participants as needing attention by a doctor, compared to the clinical diagnosis by the dermatologist that will serve as the reference standard for this analysis. For the mobile teledermoscopy-enhanced SSE group, researchers will assess the number, location and type of lesions (1) sent by the participant via mobile teledermoscopy, (2) found at CSE or (3) missed by the participant. For the naked-eye SSE group, researchers will assess the number, location and type of lesions (1) recorded on their body chart by the participant, (2) found at CSE or (3) missed by the participant. Secondary outcomes are based on participants’ self-reported data via online questionnaires.

Accuracy of mobile digital teledermoscopy for skin self-examinations in adults at high risk of skin cancer: an open-label, randomised controlled trial

“…24 Such improvement was considered to be clinically relevant and within the upper range of improvements achieved in previous studies investigating skin self-examination aids. 14,15 Detailed analysis methods have been published previously 21 and the statistical analysis plan is provided in the appendix (p 15). To calculate sensitivity and specificity, lesions that were clinically diagnosed skin cancers or their precursors only (including mela noma, squamous cell carcinoma, Bowen disease or intra epidermal carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis, or lesions already excised or biopsied after telediagnosis) were considered positive.…”

Development of a Checklist Tool to Assess the Quality of Skin Lesion Images Acquired by Consumers Using Sequential Mobile Teledermoscopy

“…The images used for this study were acquired from participants in the mobile teledermoscopy arm of a randomised, controlled trial that compared mobile teledermoscopy-enhanced skin self-examinations to naked-eye skin self-examinations. The methods and the main outcomes of the trial, including sensitivity and specificity of skin cancer detection, have been previously reported [14, 15]. Ethics approval was obtained from the Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics Committee (approval No.…”

Inteligência artificial para classificação e auxílio na terapia tópica de queimaduras em tempo real

“…Diversos aplicativos vem sendo desenvolvidos como suporte aos profissionais da área da saúde. Um recente estudo clínico randomizado (11) mostrou a efetividade de um aplicativo móvel para a precoce detecção e tratamento de melanoma. Paralelo a isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa para demonstrar a aceitação dos usuários de tal aplicativo, tendo como conclusão o suporte desses usuários a utilização dessa tecnologia (12) .…”