Teledermatology update: Mobile teledermatology

Mobile teledermatology is a relatively recent modification of teledermatology, which involves using mobile platforms like cellular phones to transmit images and data for the purpose of teleconsultations. With the rapidly improving quality of smart phone cameras combined with easier access to mobile internet, mobile teledermatology is emerging as a feasible and cost-effective method for teledermatology practice. Mobile teledermatology has shown good results in concordance studies comparing it to face-to-face consultations. Mobile teledermatology can be used for most types of clinical dermatology cases. Mobile teledermatology has been found to be useful in diagnosis, screening and triage of skin lesions including skin cancers. It is also useful as a tool to follow up patients with chronic dermatological problems like psoriasis and chronic wounds. The obvious advantage of mobile teledermatology is it’s cost-effectiveness and the fact that access to expert dermatology care is made easier for patients especially in remote areas. Further research is however required to standardize protocols for mobile teledermatology. Collaborative research among people working in this field would be very useful in this standardization and would help in optimizing the opportunities provided by this interesting tool. This article gives a brief overview of mobile teledermatology including definitions, tools involved, indications, limitations and future applications.