Handyscope (http://www.handyscope.net) from FotoFinder is a new device for mobile skin cancer examinations with the iPhone. This digital handheld dermatoscope allows doctors capturing and saving microscopic pictures of moles using the iOS device and a corresponding app.

Handyscope — which costs approximately US$840 — gives a magnified, polarized view on the skin, combining skin surface microscopy with mobility and communication technology. It enables doctors to capture and save pictures of moles for skin cancer examination. As opposed to examinations with conventional handheld dermatoscopes, doctors can keep distance during the skin check and evaluate moles on-screen, according to FotoFinder CEO Andreas Mayer.

The handyscope device is attached to the iPhone and directly put on the patients’ skin. High resolution mole images are directly captured and managed in the password protected app and can be shown to the patient. With up to twentyfold magnification, the polarized photos show important details at a glance for better diagnostic accuracy, says Mayer

The handyscope app uses the iPhone’s connectivity features for e-mailing mole photos to histologists or exchanging them with specialists for a second opinion.