Smartphone applications for the triage of skin lesions using machine learning: time to integrate the clinical information?

LinguAPP: An m-Health Application for Teledentistry Diagnostics

An Android/iOS application for low-cost mobile devices to aid in dental diagnosis through questionnaire and photos is presented in this paper. The main purposes of our app lie in the ease of use even for nonexperienced users, in the limited hardware requirements that allow a wide diffusion, and in the possibility to modify the questionnaire for different pathologies. This tool was developed in about a month at the beginning of the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and is still in use in Italy to allow support to patients without going to the hospital, if not strictly necessary.

[Artificial intelligence and smartphone program applications (Apps) : Relevance for dermatological practice]

ADVANTAGES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)

With responsible, safe and successful use of artificial intelligence (AI), possible advantages in the field of dermato-oncology include the following: (1) medical work can focus on skin cancer patients, (2) patients can be more quickly and effectively treated despite the increasing incidence of skin cancer and the decreasing number of actively working dermatologists and (3) users can learn from the AI results. POTENTIAL DISADVANTAGES AND RISKS OF AI USE: (1) Lack of mutual trust can develop due to the decreased patient-physician contact, (2) additional time effort will be necessary to promptly evaluate the AI-classified benign lesions, (3) lack of adequate medical experience to recognize misclassified AI decisions and (4) recontacting a patient in due time in the case of incorrect AI classifications. Still problematic in the use of AI are the medicolegal situation and remuneration. Apps using AI currently cannot provide sufficient assistance based on clinical images of skin cancer.

REQUIREMENTS AND POSSIBLE USE OF SMARTPHONE PROGRAM APPLICATIONS

Smartphone program applications (apps) can be implemented responsibly when the image quality is good, the patient's history can be entered easily, transmission of the image and results are assured and medicolegal aspects as well as remuneration are clarified. Apps can be used for disease-specific information material and can optimize patient care by using teledermatology.