MelApp was created by Health Discovery Corporation. The app was validated using an image database licensed from John’s Hopkins University Medical Center. People can use the MelApp to take a picture of a suspicious mole with an iPhone camera. Then using the MelApp’s “check risk” feature within seconds the app will provide a risk analysis of the uploaded picture being Melanoma. The images can also be stored on the MelApp and saved according to date, label or risk. It then lets you review them for changes occurring over time.
Other key features include a GPS Doctor Connection that refers you to a nearby physician (based on the location of your iPhone). The MelApp is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It can be purchased for $1.99 from the App Store. I didn’t find much more information on the success rate of MelApp detecting Melanoma, but there were a couple of reviews that didn’t give MelApp a complete thumbs-up. One person said that “the idea is neat, but the execution awful.” Another said, “I have tried and tried to even come close to the quality of photo they are showing. All types of lighting conditions. From all kinds of distances. Once the zoom is used to try and encircle the mole in question it becomes so shaky and blurred it is useless.”
I would say for a $1.99 you could just try it for yourself.
Has anyone successfully tried it? If so, leave a comment!
