Technologies for the diagnosis of primary melanoma of the skin

Menzies, Scott W

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00685.x

Topics

There is now an inexpensive first-line approach for diagnosing pigmented skin lesions

Over the past decade, the number of published reports on new technologies for diagnosing primary melanoma and other pigmented lesions of the skin has grown exponentially. However, there is still confusion about the relative merits of the various technologies and in which patient setting they are best used. The technologies discussed here are dermoscopy (also known as surface microscopy, epiluminescence microscopy, or dermatoscopy) and its digital modifications.

Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW.

Correspondence: scott.menzies@email.cs.nsw.gov.au

Competing interests:

I am a paid consultant for Polartechnics Ltd, a producer of an automated diagnostic instrument for the diagnosis of melanoma and a digital monitoring device.

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