On May 18, Google launched a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) based tool, to assist and guide users on dermatological issues.
Google has recently developed AI based tools for the detection of conditions and diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy, to improve diagnosis of COVID-19 or to reduce breast cancer diagnosis times. It even developed a tool available on cell phones to measure heart and respiratory rate.
Google receives billions of searches related to skin, nail and hair conditions. Approximately two billion people suffer from some dermatological condition, and there are only a few specialists globally. In response to this situation, Google Health introduced a smartphone-based tool that will facilitate users' searches and also provide important information on dermatological conditions.
“Our AI-powered dermatology assist tool is a web-based application that we hope to launch as a pilot later this year, to make it easier to figure out what might be going on with your skin”, Google explained on its blog.
Once you launch the tool, simply use your phone’s camera to take three images of the skin, hair or nail concern from different angles. You’ll then be asked questions about your skin type, how long you’ve had the issue and other symptoms that help the tool narrow down the possibilities.
“The AI model analyzes this information and draws from its knowledge of 288 conditions to give you a list of possible matching conditions that you can then research further.”, Google details.
The tool is now available after more than three years of research and development of products based on automatic learning. In addition, it has evidence published in several scientific journals such as Nature or JAMA Network Open, where the most recent study was published..
This new tool has been used by non-dermatology physicians to improve their ability to interpret skin conditions.
