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Diagnostic performance of the MelaFind device in a real‐life clinical setting
Author(s) -
Fink Christine,
Jaeger Claudia,
Jaeger Katharina,
Haenssle Holger A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
jddg: journal der deutschen dermatologischen gesellschaft
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.463
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1610-0387
pISSN - 1610-0379
DOI - 10.1111/ddg.13220
Subject(s) - medline , medicine , computer science , law , political science
Summary Background MelaFind is a multispectral computer vision system intended to provide additional information on melanocytic lesions suspected of being melanoma by objectively assessing their three‐dimensional morphology. Objectives Analysis of the diagnostic performance of MelaFind in a real‐life clinical setting. Patients and methods In this observational study, 360 pigmented skin lesions (PSL) in 111 patients were assessed by office‐based dermatologists using MelaFind. Scores ≥ 2 were considered to be suspicious of malignancy. The decision for surgical excision was left to the discretion of the examining dermatologists. Results MelaFind scores ≥ 2 were observed in 147 of 360 PSL (40.8 %). Of the 107 excised lesions with a MelaFind‐score ≥ 2, the diagnosis of melanoma was made in three cases; 53 (49.5 %) lesions proved to be dysplastic nevi. Among all lesions biopsied (n = 113), the sensitivity and specificity of MelaFind was 100 % and 5.5 %, respectively. While a higher specificity of 68.5 % may be assumed with respect to the overall data set (n = 360), this assumption is limited by incomplete follow‐up data required to confirm that all non‐excised lesions with a score < 2 were actually benign. Conclusion The high sensitivity of MelaFind facilitated the detection of melanoma. The overall specificity and benign‐to‐malignant ratio of excised lesions were acceptable. These parameters may be improved by using higher cutoff scores for excisional biopsies, and by more vigorously selecting PSL for MelaFind examination.