Skin Analytics Receives NHSX Award for AI-Based Skin Cancer Tool

Skin Analytics, an AI medical technology company, has been granted a Phase 4 AI in Health and Care Award by NHSX.

Created to accelerate the evaluation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies within the NHS, the award is highly competitive and prestigious, with an extensive evaluation process. Receiving the award is a major validation of Skin Analytics’ DERM product and changes the way in which skin cancer is assessed and treated by the NHS.

Since 2012, Skin Analytics has worked with leading experts in dermatology, clinical research and general practice to develop DERM, which analyses dermoscopic images of skin lesions using AI algorithms. DERM is a CE marked medical device designed to relieve pressure on primary and secondary care services while helping more people to survive skin cancer.

Already deployed in Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership and University Hospitals Birmingham, DERM has led to a significant reduction in unnecessary referrals while helping to tackle the dermatology backlog created by COVID-19. Through the award, these benefits can now be shared more widely across the NHS through a series of deployments giving thousands of clinicians and millions of patients access to Skin Analytics.

Neil Daly, CEO of Skin Analytics, commented: “The AI award is a major step forward in making DERM more widely available across the NHS. It will enable us to put our technology into the hands of GPs and clinicians around the country and allow them to assess its benefits for themselves. The key to skin cancer survival is early diagnosis, and DERM helps to prioritise      patients into specialist services sooner rather than later. At the same time, we can more effectively manage the sharply rising demand for dermatology services with the workforce we have.”

Dr Lucy Thomas, Consultant Dermatologist at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, said: “Skin Analytics’ receipt of this award is great news for the NHS and dermatology departments. It will allow us to gather real-world data to demonstrate the benefits of AI on patient pathways and workforce challenges. Like many services, dermatology has severe backlogs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This award couldn't have come at a better time to aid recovery and give us more time with the patients most in need of our help.”

Created with the mission of helping more patients survive skin cancer, Skin Analytics is deployed in the private and public sector. In the NHS, Skin Analytics uses its AI to help increase dermatology capacity, speed up patient access to care, and decrease backlogs. It allows patients with benign skin lesions to be identified earlier in their journey, redirecting dermatology capacity away from spending time diagnosing benign lesions to, instead, spending time with patients who really need their care.

When deployed in primary care, Skin Analytics is used as a adjunctive tool used to aid GPs with their decision making. With an assessment from DERM, Skin Analytics helps GPs place patients on the right pathway from the start.

In secondary care, Skin Analytics enables AI teledermatology hubs providing an adjunctive tool to support dermatologists to triage cases and direct patients to the right next step. This helps discharge benign referrals earlier in the pathway, speed up cancer diagnosis, and re-allocate dermatologists’ resources to focus on patients who truly need their care. As of today, Skin Analytics has assessed more than 6,500 patients and discharged over 1,600 benign referrals.