Digital videoscopy is a mole check that helps to detect skin cancer at an early stage. Videoscopy is not a stand-alone examination, but rather a supplementary one. If necessary, it follows a thorough skin cancer screening examination with a dermatoscope. During the examination with the handheld microscope, the doctor examines the individual moles. This provides a snapshot of the current condition of the skin and individual pigmented moles. If a mole is classified as conspicuous, a snapshot should be taken of it in order to detect changes over time.

These digital photos from the videoscopy and the use of AI make it possible to compare the current condition of the mole with its previous appearance. This is important because skin cancer often develops relatively slowly, in small steps. This gives the doctor time to treat it, but only if they recognize the development and are notified of these changes.

Skin cancer often develops from existing, initially harmless pigmented moles whose microstructures change over the years. Thus, unnoticed by the layman, a small mole can develop into a dangerous malignant melanoma (black skin cancer), which is still easily treatable if detected in time.

Regular digital images of skin areas diagnosed as abnormal during skin cancer screening allow changes in individual pigmented moles to be detected accurately and with a high degree of certainty at a later date. The dermatologist is supported by artificial intelligence (AI), which helps to highlight the changes. To do this, the system places the latest photo next to an older photo of the same mole. If changes are visible, they can be clearly seen and evaluated on the screen.

Here, the doctor can see whether one or more of the following characteristics of a mole, such as structure, size, color, or outline, have changed since the last check-up and can assess whether this development is potentially risky and whether preventive removal of the pigmented lesion is necessary.

Especially for patients with many moles, an accurate comparison is not possible without prior photo documentation. This also applies to patients whose last skin cancer screening was relatively long ago or to patients who have had to change doctors.

The software ensures that each photo is assigned to a specific location on the body and cannot be confused, which could be the case without a professional database – for example, if photos were only stored in the patient file. Using AI, the moles are compared and those that the doctor should examine closely based on his many years of experience are displayed to him.