A Skin Cancer Triage Tool for Primary Care: One Specialist's Take on the DermaSensor Device

A pigmented lesion that was "not there" at a patient's last physical examination should raise concern for the primary care practitioner and the patient, alike. A decision to watch and wait or to refer the patient to a dermatologist colleague could be a simple one, a "yes" or "no" based on clinical acumen and experience, or the next step might be less clear.

In a recent interview with Patient Care,® dermatologist Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH, said that point-of-care (POC) skin cancer screening technology is like "a triage tool for primary care providers to help them assess more clearly if the lesion indicates an immediate call to dermatology or if it can wait for the next routine skin exam." Hartman, who has extensive experience with a range of such devices, discussed how use of DermaSensor, which recently received FDA clearance, in primary care could help reduce unnecessary referrals to dermatology for what turn out to be benign lesions.

Powered by artificial intelligence, the DermaSensor device uses elastic scattering spectroscopy to evaluate the cellular and subcellular characteristics of suspicious skin lesions. Five spectral recordings collected in a single scan are evaluated by an FDA-cleared algorithm developed and originally validated scans of more than 20 000 lesions. The primary care clinician receives a reading that says, “Investigate Further,” indicating a referral should be made to a dermatologist, or “Monitor,” an outcome which could help rule out a majority of unnecessary referrals for benign lesions. DermaSensor is intended to detect melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma.

Rebecca Hartman, MD, MPH, is assistant professor of dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and associate chief of the dermatology section at the VA Boston Healthcare System, in Boston, MA. Hartman's clinical practice is focused on melanoma and general dermatology while her research interests are in skin cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.