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. 2024 May 27;2(3):322-330.
doi: 10.1016/j.mcpdig.2024.05.008. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Skin and Digital-The 2024 Narrative

Dominique du Crest  1 , Monisha Madhumita  2 , Wendemagegn Enbiale  3 , Alexander Zink  4 , Art Papier  5 , Gaone Matewa  6 , Harvey Castro  7 , Hector Perandones  8 , Josef De Guzman  9 , Misha Rosenbach  10 , Tu-Anh Duong  11 , Yu-Chuan Jack Li  12 , Hugues Cartier  13 , Benjamin Ascher  14 , Sebastien Garson  15 , Alessandra Haddad  16 , Daniel Z Liu  17 , Diala Haykal  18 , Jane Yoo  19 , Nav Paul  20 , Tracy Cohen Sayag  21 , Merete Hædersdal  22 , Esther Freeman  23 , Lilit Garibyan  24
Affiliations

Skin and Digital-The 2024 Narrative

Dominique du Crest et al. Mayo Clin Proc Digit Health. .

Abstract

The global burden of skin diseases affects over 3 billion individuals, posing important public health challenges worldwide, with profound impacts in both high-income and low-income and middle-income countries. These challenges are exacerbated by widespread disparities in access to dermatologic care and the prevalence of misinformation. This article, derived from the Skin and Digital Summit at the International Master Course on Aging Science critically evaluates how digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, teledermatology, and large language models can bridge these access gaps. It explores practical applications and case studies demonstrating the impact of these technologies in various settings, with a particular focus on adapting solutions to meet the diverse needs of low-income and middle-income countries. In addition, the narrative highlights the ongoing conversation within the dermatologic community about the role of digital advances in health care, emphasizing that this discussion is dynamic and the one that is continuously evolving. Dermatologists play an essential role in this transition, integrating digital tools into mainstream care to complement a patient-centered, culturally sensitive approach. The article advocates for a globally coordinated digital response that not only addresses current disparities in skin health care but also promotes equitable access to digital health resources, making dermatologic care more representative of all skin types and accessible worldwide.

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Conflict of interest statement

Mr du Crest is an employee and Director of SkinAid SAS and receives a salary from SkinAid. Dr Madhumita reports travel support for World Congress of Dermatology, 2023, and Rising Star Scholarship and leadership roles as Adjunct Research Advisor in Father Muller Medical College. Dr Zink reports Speaker’s honoraria for digital dermatology topics for AbbVie, Almirall, Amgen, Beiersdorf Dermo Medical, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Incyte, Janssen Cilag, Leo Pharma, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, and UCB Pharma and is a member of the board of directors of the German Society of Dermatology and leader of the Digital Dermatology group within this society. Dr Papier holds patent on decision support software (Patent No. 8538770); is a shareholder for Logical Images DBA VisualDx; and is an employee of Visual Dx. Dr Rosenbach reports institutional grants from 10.13039/100019396Processa Pharmaceuticals; receives royalties for the textbook Andrews Diseases of the Skin as Editor; is a consultant for Processa, Merck, Janssen/J&J, and Novartis; and receives honoraria for multiple invited grand round lectures, all unrelated to this work. Dr Li reports grants from 10.13039/100020595NSTC, Taiwan, and consulting fees from AESOP Technology. Dr Paul is a consultant for Global Medical Education Advisor Visual Dx; reports honoraria for UCL ehealth Unit postgraduate student workshop; receives travel support as BAD/AAD scholarship; is an advisor for dermatology image collection for spectrumlactation (https://spectrumlactation.org); and is a Director, ANKP, and receives associated consultancy fees. Dr Hædersdal receives equipment support from Cherry Imaging, Cynosure, GME Medical, Lutronic, MiraDry, and Venus Concept; research grants from Leo Pharma, La Roche-Posay, and Venus Concept; consulting fees from La Roche-Posay and Procter & Gamble; and honoraria from Galderma and reports participation in data safety monitoring board of Galderma. Dr Freeman reports grants from 10.13039/100000002National Institutes of Health; is a coauthor for UpToDate for COVID-19; reports travel support from International League of Dermatologic Societies supports to Dermatology meetings as Vice Chair of the IFD; and is a Section Editor, British Journal of Dermatology. Dr Garibyan is listed as an inventor on the Magic Wand Initiative trademark, owned her employee, Mass General Hospital. All other authors report no competing interests.

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