Usability testing of MySkinSelfie: a mobile phone application for skin self-monitoring

Advancing Dermatological Care: A Comprehensive Narrative Review of Tele-Dermatology and mHealth for Bridging Gaps and Expanding Opportunities beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic

Mobile health (mHealth) has recently had significant advances in tele-dermatology (TD) thanks to the developments following the COVID-19 pandemic. This topic is very important, as telemedicine and mHealth, when applied to dermatology, could improve both the quality of healthcare for citizens and the workflow in the health domain. The proposed study was centered on the last three years. We conducted an overview on the opportunities, the perspectives, and the problems involved in TD integration with mHealth. The methodology of the narrative review was based on: (I) a search of PubMed and Scopus and (II) an eligibility assessment, using properly proposed parameters. The outcome of the study showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, TD integration with mHealth advanced rapidly. This integration enabled the monitoring of dermatological problems and facilitated remote specialist visits, reducing face-to-face interactions. AI and mobile apps have empowered citizens to take an active role in their healthcare. This differs from other imaging sectors where information exchange is limited to professionals. The opportunities for TD in mHealth include improving service quality, streamlining healthcare processes, reducing costs, and providing more accessible care. It can be applied to various conditions, such as (but not limited to) acne, vitiligo, psoriasis, and skin cancers. Integration with AI and augmented reality (AR), as well as the use of wearable sensors, are anticipated as future developments. However, integrating TD with mHealth also brings about problems and challenges related to regulations, ethics, cybersecurity, data privacy, and device management. Scholars and policymakers need to address these issues while involving citizens in the process.

Digital Inclusion as a Lens for Equitable Parent Engagement

Digital inclusion (DI) represents a framework for educational leaders to address ongoing digital access and participation divides for adult caretakers (e.g., parents) of school-aged children, as schools continue adopting new education technology tools. This preliminary research investigates teacher perceptions of different DI needs for parents during the pandemic. This research examines teacher perceptions of parents' knowledge and use of online tools in providing supervision to support home-based learning for their student children. A sample of K-12 teachers in the United States responded to open-ended survey questions relating to their observation and evaluation of student learning, parent involvement, and DI needs in their classes. The researchers used a framework drawn from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to categorize key DI components teachers identified, finding both digital access and digital participation needs existed in their students' homes. Ultimately, the framework of DI recognizes that household digital access alone does not create equitable opportunities for online instruction without holistic consideration of digital literacy training, technical support, and relevant online tools for parents and caretakers.

Telemedicine and e-Health in the Management of Psoriasis: Improving Patient Outcomes – A Narrative Review

The role of technology in dermatology is expanding. Telemedicine and eHealth are increasingly being used by doctors and patients in the management of psoriasis. This is a narrative review of the literature relating to the use of digital technology in the management of psoriasis. We divided psoriasis e-health into three areas: mobile phone applications, teledermatology and artificial Intelligence (AI). Literature searches were conducted using the following databases: Pubmed, Google Scholar, Scopus, both app stores using App Annie platform. The following words were used in searches; psoriasis, dermatology, mobile phone application, application, app, smartphone, teledermatology, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, AI, machine learning in various combinations. We defined three key questions, one relating to each of the 3 areas. We then reviewed the relevant papers found in the searches and selected the papers of highest research quality and greatest relevance in order to answer the questions. In addition, for apps, operating systems for IOS and android devices were searched for apps containing the key word “psoriasis” in the title using the app analytic website www.appannie.com on 08/11/21. Research publications linked to these apps were reviewed.

Metrology and sensors as dermo-cosmetic technology opportunities for a change of paradigm

OBJECTIVE

Metrology and measures are changing the way patients and consumers behave and help find new, more effective solutions.

METHODS

This Review and Prospective Paper identifies applications in the field of dermatology and beauty tech.

RESULTS

The review of skincare as well as dermatological applications and analysis provides a comprehensive picture of the dynamics in the process of impacting the complete value chain in the field of dermo-cosmetics, as well as the opportunities offered by a strict approach around new and innovative measures, especially in the field of better patient/consumer knowledge, understanding, and personalized solution offering. It identifies the new business models or opportunities for the cosmetic industry.

CONCLUSION

Adapting metrology and measures to skincare is a significant opportunity to change the way things are done today.

Automatic Focus Assessment on Dermoscopic Images Acquired with Smartphones

Over recent years, there has been an increase in popularity of the acquisition of dermoscopic skin lesion images using mobile devices, more specifically using the smartphone camera. The demand for self-care and telemedicine solutions requires suitable methods to guide and evaluate the acquired images’ quality in order to improve the monitoring of skin lesions. In this work, a system for automated focus assessment of dermoscopic images was developed using a feature-based machine learning approach. The system was designed to guide the user throughout the acquisition process by means of a preview image validation approach that included artifact detection and focus validation, followed by the image quality assessment of the acquired picture. This paper also introduces two different datasets, dermoscopic skin lesions and artifacts, which were collected using different mobile devices to develop and test the system. The best model for automatic preview assessment attained an overall accuracy of 77.9% while focus assessment of the acquired picture reached a global accuracy of 86.2%. These findings were validated by implementing the proposed methodology within an android application, demonstrating promising results as well as the viability of the proposed solution in a real life scenario.