Smartphone Assessment of Vitiligo

Vitiligo is diagnosed using a Wood's lamp; radiation emitted from the lamp at a frequency of 320–400 nm results in autofluorescence of vitiliginous lesions. However, Wood's lamps are not widely available in many resource-poor areas, which hinders diagnosis and management of affected children and adults.

Researchers in Mumbai evaluated use of a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 smartphone to diagnose vitiligo. They modified the phone to emit bright blue light and then examined a patient with segmental vitiligo in a dark room. They report that “visualization... of the vitiliginous lesions was comparable to that of a Wood's lamp.” After editing the image using a gray-scale setting, the contrast of light and dark images allowed a clearer demarcation of the …