Tens of thousands of skin cancer patients are set to benefit from faster diagnoses thanks to a fast-tracked rollout of innovative Teledermatology technology, NHS England has announced.
The technology, known as dermatoscopes, comprises a small lens that can be attached to a phone camera and is allowing dermatologists to double their daily footfall of patients.
With only around 15% of NHS trusts offering this type of technology, the health service is set to launch the Teledermatology device nationally by next month.
The country’s more rural areas are also set to be supported via their GPs with dermatoscopes also set to be rolled out there as well.
NHS England’s chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, highlighted that promoting the use of digital technology and new, alternative working practices is “key” to reducing waiting lists and is the reason behind this accelerated national rollout.
“It is a small piece of kit that has the potential to speed up diagnosis and treatment for tens of thousands with skin cancer,” Pritchard said on the innovation.
The health service is also trialling an artificial intelligence-powered magnifying lenses which can identify cancerous skin lesions in seconds.
The technology is currently being used in conjunction with traditional clinician assessments, but the health service hope it can prove to be both faster and more accurate in the long run.
Previous research has shown the solution can help avoid approximately 10,000 unnecessary appointments.
“We are going a step further even and expanding the use of artificial intelligence lenses in Teledermatology to diagnose skin cancers, and this is proving highly effective in areas that have trialled the technology so far,” added Pritchard.
