A new smartphone application designed to detect skin cancers has received the highest level of medical device approval in Europe, offering the potential to streamline diagnosis and reduce waiting times within the NHS. Developed by British healthcare company Skin Analytics, the app uses artificial intelligence to analyze photographs of moles and skin lesions, identifying patterns indicative of melanoma and other skin conditions without the need for additional hardware.

An earlier version of the technology, Derm AI, was previously employed by the NHS with a specialized camera lens attachment and helped identify 20,000 cancers among more than 230,000 patients. The latest iteration, however, eliminates the requirement for external equipment, enabling clinical-grade assessments to be conducted swiftly at pharmacies or general practitioners’ offices without hospital visits.

Skin Analytics’ software has been trained on thousands of images with confirmed diagnoses and has demonstrated an effectiveness rate of 99.8 percent in detecting melanomas, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. In the UK, approximately 20,000 new melanoma cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in over 2,300 deaths. Incidence of the disease, largely linked to ultraviolet radiation exposure from sunlight or sunbeds, has risen by nearly 30 percent over the past decade, reaching record levels last year.

Melanomas often present as new moles or changes in existing ones and tend to appear on sun-exposed areas of the body. Early detection is widely recognized as crucial for improving patient outcomes.

Dr. Alexandra Kemp, consultant dermatologist and cancer clinical director at Amersham Hospital, highlighted the positive impact the technology has had since its introduction into the skin cancer care pathway. “There has been a great impact on our clinical capacity, and it has made a real difference to the efficiency of the care we can provide,” she said. Dr. Kemp emphasized that the app’s availability on standard smartphones, without specialist equipment, could significantly expand patient access and facilitate earlier diagnosis.

The introduction of this app comes amid growing concern over rising melanoma rates in the UK, underscoring the importance of innovative tools to enhance early detection and treatment pathways.