To Excise or Not?: Comparing Clinical Management Decisions for Melanoma Between Dermatologists With and Without the Aid of MelaFind

Early detection of melanoma is critical for favorable prognosis, since patients with earlier stage melanomas have a much higher probability of survival than with later stages. The traditional method of early detection has been with serial total body skin exams where the health care provider examines all skin surfaces, including mucosa, for suspicious pigmented lesions. The diagnostic performance of dermatologists for melanoma depends on the level of dermatological training. More important than being able to make a diagnosis of melanoma on clinical impression is the ability to make an appropriate decision to excise the lesion. To aid dermatologists in the detection of early melanoma, MelaFind was developed, a non-invasive and objective multi-spectral computer vision system technology. It was designed to generate output - MelaFind Positive or MelaFind Negative- for consideration in the lesion management decisions.

This survey study will determine and compare the average excision sensitivity to melanoma and specificity of dermatologists (in Germany) without MelaFind output to the average excision sensitivity to melanoma and specificity of dermatologists (in Germany) with MelaFind output. Another purpose is to determine and compare the sensitivity to melanoma and specificity of MelaFind to the average excision sensitivity to melanoma and specificity of dermatologists without MelaFind output.