Early Detection of Skin Cancer Will Keep Getting Better Using AI-Based Technology: Expert Perspective

"I think this is an exciting time; there's a lot of potential for this device and other devices to potentially change this space."

Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH, assistant professor of dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was the lead author on a recent study that compared the sensitivity and specificity for melanoma of the DermaSensor skin cancer screening device against the diagnostic conclusions of dermatologists and pathologists at a high-volume dermatology center. In a recent interview with Patient Care,® Hartman discussed the device, which uses elastic scattering spectroscopy to evaluate cellular and subcellular characteristics of skin lesions, as well as other AI-supported technology that can be used at the primary care point-of-care level to differentiate lesions that will need further work up from those that are not of immediate concern.

In this short video clip from the interview, she describes technological advances that could improve rates of early skin cancer detection.

Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH, is assistant professor of dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and associate chief of the dermatology section at the VA Boston Healthcare System, in Boston, MA. Hartman's clinical practice is focused on melanoma and general dermatology while her research interests are in skin cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.