10.5826/dpc.1303a220
text/xml
2160-9381
3200
en
David Swanson
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual
 telemedicine
The Use of Patient-Marketed Dermatoscopes in Dermatology Practice
Text.Serial.Journal
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc
Research Letter
2023-07-31
2023-01-31
2023-07-31
2023-08-24
e2023220
Dermatol Pract Concept
David Swanson
2023/07/31
10.5826/dpc.1303a220
e2023220
Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
2160-9381
 telemedicine
en
e2023220
Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG. Research electronic data capture (REDCap)--a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. Biomed Inform. 2009 ;42(2):377-381. DOI 10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010. PMID: 18929686. PMCID: PMC2700030.
The Use of Patient-Marketed Dermatoscopes in Dermatology Practice
https://dpcj.org/index.php/dpc/article/download/3200/2211
         The Use of Patient-Marketed Dermatoscopes
                   in Dermatology Practice
               Collin M. Costello1, Jake G. Besch1, Ahmad B. Shahin2, John R. Bottjer3,
                                Harper N. Price4, David L. Swanson1


1 Department of Dermatology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
2 Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
3 Gen Inc., San Juan Capistrano, California, USA
4 Division of Dermatology, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona, USA


Key words: Dermoscopy, Patient-focused dermoscopy, teledermatology, telemedicine
Citation: Costello CM, Besch-Stokes JG, Shahin AB, Bottjer JR, Price HN, Swanson DL. The Use of Patient-Marketed Dermatoscopes in
Dermatology Practice. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023220. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1303a220
Accepted: April 4, 2023; Published: July 2023
Copyright: ©2023 Costello et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial License (BY-NC-4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: None.
Authorship: All authors have contributed significantly to this publication.
Corresponding author: David L Swanson, MD, Mayo Clinic – Department of Dermatology 13400 E Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85259.
Phone: 480-301-8508; Fax: 480-301-9272 E-mail: swanson.david@mayo.edu



Introduction                                                             sent to 3Gen©, which manufactures a patient-marketed
                                                                         dermatoscope, that was forwarded to customers who pur-
As smartphones with high-quality cameras have become                     chased a HÜD® dermatoscope [4]. An initial email was
ubiquitous, and dermoscopy technology has become cheaper,                sent on 12/2/2020, with a reminder email six weeks later.
new dermatoscopes designed for use by the layperson have                 The REDCap and all raw data were stored at Mayo Clinic.
been released. These $125 dermatoscopes connect directly to              Descriptive statistics were utilized for this study.
patients' smartphones. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused                       In total, 21 customers responded to the survey (Table 1).
a massive shift towards telehealth, including teledermatology            Females comprised 66.6% of respondents. The median age
and teledermoscopy, making these devices more relevant.                  was 57 years. Caucasians made up 81% of respondents. Ed-
There have been several studies evaluating patient-directed              ucation levels included doctorate (38%), master (23.8%),
dermoscopy during a self-skin examination [1-3]. However,                bachelor (23.8%), associate (4.8%), and some college
there is limited data on how patients are using these devices            (9.5%). Most (two-thirds) did not work in the medical field.
in the real world and whether their use is impacting derma-              The devices were used on the respondents children in 23.8%
tologic care. This survey-based project was designed to eval-            of cases. Nearly all (94.7%) had seen a dermatologist, and
uate how patient-marketed dermatoscopes are being utilized.              the majority (73.7%) had heard about this device from their
                                                                         dermatologist. The device primary use was sending photo-

Case Presentation                                                        graphs to their medical provider (78.9%). These devices did
                                                                         not change the frequency of dermatology appointments in
The Mayo Clinic institutional review board deemed this                   83.3% of cases. Most (73.7%) patients agreed or strongly
study exempt. A link to a survey designed in REDCap was                  agreed that they would recommend the dermatoscope. Most



Research Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023220                                                                        1
                            Table 1. Demographic, clinical use, and satisfaction data.
                                                  Demographics (N = 21)
 Gender                                                       Female                                                   66.6%
                                                              Male                                                     33.3%
 Age                                                          Mean (SD)                                                55 (19.8)
 Race                                                         Caucasian                                                81.0%
                                                              Asian                                                    4.7%
                                                              Prefer not to say                                        14.3%
                                                        Clinical Use
 Do you have a dermatologist                                  Yes                                                      94.7%
 Has the HÜD dermatoscope changed how often you see           No change in frequency                                   83.3%
 your dermatologist?                                          Less frequent                                            16.6%
 Do you send dermoscopic photographs to your medical          Yes                                                      78.9%
 provider?                                                    No                                                       21.1%
 How did you learn about the HÜD dermatoscope                 Dermatologist / Dermatology Provider                     73.7%
                                                              Internet                                                 15.8%
                                                              Other                                                    10.5%
 What is the primary use of your HÜD dermatoscope             Bought to use on yourself                                78.9%
                                                              Bought to use on adult family member                     10.5%
                                                              Bought to use on child                                   5.3%
                                                              Other reason                                             15.8%
 What is the primary reason you purchased a HÜD               Send photographs to dermatologist / medical              78.9%
 dermatoscope                                                 provider
                                                              Track moles yourself                                     15.8%
                                                              Track moles using a phone-based application              5.3%
                                                              Use with self-skin examinations                          15.8%
 Do you perform self-skin examinations                        Yes                                                      78.9%
                                                              No                                                       21.1%
 Do you use your HÜD during self-skin examinations            Yes                                                      40.0%
                                                              No                                                       60.0%
 Have you received training on how to interpret               Yes                                                      26.3%
 dermoscopic images                                           No                                                       73.7%
                                                        Satisfaction
                                                              1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree
 I would be interested in training to interpret dermoscopic   Mean (SD)                                                3.8 (1.4)
 images                                                       Median                                                   4
 I would be interested in incorporating the HÜD into my       Mean (SD)                                                3.5 (1.5)
 self-skin exam                                               Median                                                   3
 Using new technology, including the HÜD dermatoscope,        Mean (SD)                                                2.6 (1.4)
 is challenging                                               Median                                                   2
 I am satisfied with my HÜD dermatoscope                      Mean (SD)                                                3.8 (1.2)
                                                              Median                                                   4
 I would recommend the HÜD dermatoscope                       Mean (SD)                                                3.9 (1.1)
                                                              Median                                                   4
 SD = standard deviation.


(68.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied      is challenging to use. Limitations of this study include the
with the device. Most (57.9%) disagreed or strongly dis-        small sample size and only one dermatoscope model was
agreed that new technology, including this dermatoscope,        assessed.



2                                                                     Research Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023220
Conclusions                                                        technology evolves, dermoscopy guided by artificial intelli-
                                                                   gence will significantly assist in-home lesion analysis.
A silver lining for the COVID-19 pandemic may be the in-
creased infrastructure, access, and utilization of telederma-
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Research Letter | Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(3):e2023220                                                                          3
