Digital skin health platform Miiskin has opened its technology to give academic researchers free access – supporting digital collaboration within new dermatology research in the UK.
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Since first launching its popular consumer app, Miiskin introduced a series of advanced features and recently developed a digital teledermatology platform. This is now being made freely available for scientific research into skin cancer, wound care, and conditions such as rosacea, acne, psoriasis, and eczema. It will enable the Miiskin app to be used by subjects of skin care research and connect via a secure web portal to dermatology researchers to share high-definition skin photos and other structured patient reported information.
The asynchronous (store-and-forward) teledermatology platform, known as Miiskin PRO, can facilitate secure sharing of patient-reported information and high-resolution smartphone images of skin conditions, digital body map location tracking and clinical questionnaires for research subjects.
Jon Friis, founder and CEO of Miiskin, which uses the latest in machine learning, computer vision and augmented reality, explained: “Our teledermatology platform launched last year for dermatologists in the US, and has led to interest in the use of the technology for academic researchers and clinicians to digitally connect with their research subjects. The platform can be used for dermatology research that requires digital skin tracking and high-quality, self-captured skin images from patients who are taking part in research projects.
“As part of our commitment to supporting dermatology and digital healthcare advances, we are making our new tech available and free to use for academic research projects.”
Phil Brady of the British Skin Foundation, the UK charity that funds research into all types of skin diseases and has supported 400 research projects in its history, said: “Research has a crucial role in advancements in healthcare and the future of dermatology delivery. Visual aspects and the evolving nature of skin conditions are important evidence factors for skin care research - and advances in digital healthcare are bringing new ways for researchers to capture self-reported detail and images.”
Having partnered with the British Skin Foundation since 2017, Miiskin works with the charity to raise awareness of the importance of regular self-examination of the skin, so patients can present early to their GP or specialist with skin cancer warning signs. It is now extending its work to support research into skin cancer and chronic conditions of the skin.
Powered by artificial intelligence, the Miiskin app is designed to help users document and track moles, lesions, and other chronic skin conditions over time, log photos and view images side by side on a screen.
Miiskin, which has 700,000 users, has features including face tracking, augmented reality mole sizing, automatic skin imaging for full body images and wide-area skin-mapping tech, which was developed in collaboration with the head of AI and medical computer imaging at the University of Copenhagen.
