Using cellphones for teledermatology, a preliminary study

Abstract

We compared live and instantaneous digital image examination of hospitalized dermatology consultation patients and to assess the reliability and the practicality of a teledermatology system equipped with the cellular phone cameras. A dermatology resident examined ten hospitalized dermatology consultation patients. Then a medical student took digital pictures of these lesions from consenting patients with a cell phone camera. The pictures were forwarded to a supervising dermatologist who was able to review them using the identical phone. The differential diagnoses given by the resident and the supervising dermatologist were recorded. Identifiable facial images were never taken. The concordance of the diagnoses between resident and off site attending was 80 percent (8/10 cases) when a diagnosis could be made remotely. In one case no diagnosis could be made because of poor photographic quality and small screen and in one case the attending diagnosis was incorrect. The practicality of this cellular phone camera teledermatology system depended on the Sprint wireless network, which was sometimes unreliable. Cellular phones with cameras offer a means to deliver bedside supervision of dermatology residents but transmission issues, small screen size, and photographic quality complicate their use.