Google aims to use artificial intelligence to help users learn more about common skin disorders, given the many already existing AI applications in healthcare—from breast cancer diagnosis to improved tuberculosis detection. When paired with technologies such as smartphones, medical knowledge can significantly increase people’s understanding of their own health.
At 2021 Google I/O, the team has released a preview of its new AI tool that monitors the health of users’ skin, hair, and nails. The skin is a field of considerable concern when it comes to assessing one’s overall health. Google uses similar methods to detect diabetic eye disease and lung cancer using CT scans for the tool mentioned above. The tool can suggest a diagnosis for illnesses like rashes by capturing an image of the user’s skin with a camera.
Origin
The Google research teams realized how many users searched for their skin conditions regularly using reference photos from Google Images, which led to the creation of this AI-driven dermatology technology. A shortage of dermatology professionals is also a problem for the two billion people affected by skin disorders each year around the world. However, since describing a skin condition with just words can be difficult, Google determined that many users will profit from an alternative to an Internet search. As a result, this latest tool is a web-based program that only includes three images of the affected region of your skin. In addition to processing the images, the app will ask users how long they’ve had the problem and whether they have any other symptoms to help narrow down the potential causes. The AI then uses its knowledge of 288 skin conditions to suggest possible matches, which you can investigate further.
The app will show a dermatologist-reviewed summary and answers to frequently asked questions for each condition matched, as well as related photos from the Web. Although this app should not be used instead of a visit to a dermatologist, Google hopes that it will provide users with some basic information that will assist them in determining their next steps in managing their skin condition.
This tool will be launched later in 2021 and will be designed to evaluate people of all ages, races, skin tones, styles, and genders. Currently, the app can access 65,000 images and case data of diagnosed skin disorders and examples of skin condition searches, and thousands of safe skin pictures.
Source: https://blog.google/technology/health/ai-dermatology-preview-io-2021/
Related Paper: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2779250
Shilpi is a Contributor to Marktechpost.com. She is currently pursuing her third year of B.Tech in computer science and engineering from IIT Bhubaneswar. She has a keen interest in exploring latest technologies. She likes to write about different domains and learn about their real life applications.
