Melanoma Screening with Computer Aided Dermoscopy System Based on the ABCD Criteria

Abstract

Melanoma mortality rates are the highest amongst skin cancer patients. The 5-year survival rate is 92% if melanoma is diagnosed at an early stage and is localized. If melanoma has spread to other parts of the body, survival is only 13%. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop approaches that can enhance early and accurate diagnosis of melanoma. Dermatoscopy has been widely used to identify early tumor growth. With the addition of computer technology, digital dermatoscopy systems are capable of accurately assessing skin surface features modeled along the ABCD criteria and have been used for clinical assessment of pigmented skin lesions. This paper introduces a non-invasive computerized dermoscopy system that considers lesions on the skin for `diagnosis.