Handyscope is the first device for mobile skin cancer examinations with the iPhone. This digital handheld dermatoscope allows doctors capturing and saving microscopic pictures of moles using iPhone, handyscope device and corresponding App. After launching in Europe and the USA, handyscope is presented in Asia at the World Congress of Dermatology in Seoul from May 24-29, 2011.
Handyscope gives a magnified, polarized view on the skin, combining skin surface microscopy with mobility and communication technology. It enables doctors to capture and save pictures of moles for skin cancer examination. As opposed to examinations with conventional handheld dermatoscopes, doctors can keep distance during the skin check and evaluate moles on-screen.
The handyscope device is attached to the iPhone and directly put on the patients’ skin. High resolution mole images are directly captured and managed in the password protected App and can be shown to the patient. With up to twentyfold magnification, the polarized photos show important details at a glance for better diagnostic accuracy.
The flexible use makes home visits comfortable: Suspicious moles are photographed and can be labeled with patient data, localization and comments. Afterwards doctors communicate, share pictures with colleagues. Thus, even non-specialized doctors in rural areas can conduct an initial skin cancer check.
“We developed handyscope for those who want to take pictures of the skin and work with them later – the alternative for doctors who miss the ‛capture-and-save-function’ when using conventional handheld dermatoscopes,” explains Andreas Mayer, CEO of FotoFinder. These possibilities in mobile dermoscopy are appreciated by renowned dermatologists: “For many years we have been speaking and publishing on ‛mobile teledermoscopy – melanoma diagnosis by one click?’ And now…I envision that the handyscope will do the job,” confirms H. Peter Soyer, MD, FACD, Professor and Chair, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Australia.
The handyscope App uses the iPhone’s connectivity features for e-mailing mole photos to histologists or exchanging them with specialists for a second opinion.
