DermaScan Turns Your Phone Into a Skin Cancer Screener — FDA-Cleared and Ready for $79
DermaTech's DermaScan, a phone accessory that uses polarized light imaging and AI to assess skin lesion malignancy risk in 5 seconds, receives FDA approval. In a 12,000-patient clinical trial, it detected melanoma with 97% sensitivity.
Your Phone, a Dermatologist's Second Opinion — DermaScan Makes Skin Cancer Screening as Easy as Taking a Photo
Skin cancer is one of the fastest-growing cancers worldwide. Melanoma's five-year survival rate exceeds 99% when caught early, but plummets to 30% when detected late. The problem is that most people never undergo a professional skin cancer screening.
DermaTech's DermaScan aims to make screening as routine as taking your temperature. The FDA-approved phone accessory, launched on April 8, weighs just 28 grams and clips over a smartphone camera.
DermaScan uses polarized light imaging to capture high-resolution photos of skin lesions. Polarized light penetrates the surface layers of the skin, revealing deep vascular and pigment distribution patterns invisible to the naked eye. An AI analysis system evaluates the lesion's malignancy risk in five seconds, assigning a score from 1 to 10.
In a 12,000-patient clinical trial, DermaScan achieved 97% sensitivity and 93% specificity for melanoma. Put another way: it correctly flagged 97 out of every 100 malignant lesions, while correctly clearing 93 out of every 100 benign ones.
Priced at $79, DermaScan has secured retail partnerships with CVS and Walgreens. DermaTech stresses that the device is a screening tool, not a diagnostic one — high-risk scores must be confirmed by a dermatologist.
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