Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has become the first in the world to use artificial intelligence (AI) to discharge patients with non-cancerous skin lesions.
The Trust shares that the technology called DERM – provided by Skin Analytics – works by using dermoscopic imaging to identify cancerous, pre-cancerous and benign moles and lesions on the skin. DERM has a 97% effectiveness for detecting skin cancer and 99.96% for ruling out melanoma, which the Trust says is comparable to a dermatologist’s personal accuracy.
The aim is to be able to discharge patients with benign legions on the same day as their consultation, supposedly freeing up more than 30% of suspected skin cancer appointments on the urgent cancer pathway at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.
Consultant dermatologist at the hospital Dr Louise Fearfield said, “We wouldn’t be able to keep up with the numbers of patients that are coming through as urgent skin cancer referrals without the technology. Patients would be missed, left waiting and wouldn’t receive their diagnosis in a timely manner.”
