Dermatology toolkit
Clinical resources for practitioners – dermoscopy and teledermatology
What is a dermatoscope?
A dermatoscope is a handheld device that combines 10x magnification with light and a polarising filter to eliminate surface reflection. This enables the colour and structures in the skin that are not visible with the naked eye or ordinary magnification to be seen. It aids the diagnosis of skin lesions, together with taking good history and full examination.
Why is dermoscopy useful in primary care?
With training it is most useful in excluding the common benign lesions which can mimic skin cancers including seborrhoeic keratoses, haemangiomas, sebaceous hyperplasia, dermatofibromas, comedones and benign moles.
It also has a role in detecting the most recognisable pre-cancerous lesions including Bowen’s disease and actinic keratoses, as well as cancerous lesions including basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and malignant melanoma.
With a burgeoning rise in referrals to dermatology services, there is a need to improve the ability of primary healthcare professionals to triage skin lesions suspicious for skin cancer more accurately. This could reduce both referrals and unnecessary skin surgery for obviously benign lesions, and increase timely access for patients suffering from skin lesions and conditions which need specialist care.
Mission statement
In the same way that GPs use stethoscopes, auroscopes and ophthalmoscopes to aid diagnosis, dermatoscopes and dermoscopy training can become uniform practice in primary care to improve skin lesion recognition skills.
Dermoscopy Top Tips
- Top Tips: Getting started with using a dermatoscope (PDF)
- Using personal mobile devices to take photos TOP TIPs (PDF)
- Top Tips: How to take good dermatology photos (PDF)