A researcher at a Scottish university has developed AI tools that could give people in remote areas of the world access to fast and potentially life-saving skin cancer diagnoses.

Tess Watt, a PhD student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, who led the project to develop the technology, said it was intended to enable the early detection of skin conditions anywhere in the world, without requiring direct access to dermatologists.

The technology also works without internet access.

The system involves a patient taking a photograph of their skin complaint using a small camera attached to a Raspberry Pi device, a low-cost, energy-efficient handheld computer capable of storing vast amounts of information.

The photograph is analysed in real-time using the latest state-of-the-art image classification, comparing it to an enormous dataset of thousands of images stored on the device to reach a diagnosis.

The findings are then shared with a local GP service to begin a suitable treatment plan. The project is understood to be the first of its kind to combine AI medical diagnosis with the aim of serving remote communities.

Ms Watt said, “Healthcare from home is a really important topic at the moment, especially as GP wait times continue to grow. If we can empower people to monitor skin conditions from their own homes using AI, we can dramatically reduce delays in diagnosis.”

A prototype of the device has already been demonstrated at Heriot-Watt’s Advanced Health and Care Technologies Suite.

The research team stated that the tool is up to 85% accurate in its diagnostic capabilities, but they hope to further increase this accuracy by gaining access to more skin lesion datasets, aided by advanced machine learning tools.

Ms Watt is also in talks with the National Health Service Scotland to begin the ethical approval process for testing the technology in real-world clinical settings.

“Hopefully in the next year or two, we’ll have a pilot project underway,” she said, noting medical technology often takes years to move from prototype to implementation. “By the time I finish my PhD, three years from now, I’d love to see something well into the pipeline that’s on its way to real-world use.”

The university stated that its long-term vision is to roll out the system first across remote regions of Scotland, before expanding it to global areas with limited access to dermatological care. It added that the technology could also offer vital support to patients who are infirm or unable to travel, allowing loved ones to assist with capturing and submitting diagnostic images to GPs.

Ms Watt’s academic supervisor, Dr Christos Chrysoulas, said, “E-health devices must be engineered to operate independently of external connectivity to ensure continuity of patient service and safety. In the event of a network or cloud service failure, such devices must fail safely and maintain all essential clinical operations without functional degradation.

“While auxiliary or non-critical features may become temporarily unavailable, the core diagnostic and even therapeutic capabilities must remain fully operational, in compliance, of course, with safety and regulatory requirements. Ensuring this level of resilience in affordable, low-cost medical devices is the essence of our research, particularly for deployment in resource-limited settings and areas with limited or no connectivity, where uninterrupted patient care must still be guaranteed.”

UK science and technology secretary Peter Kyle commented on the research, saying, “Low-cost technology which could help detect skin cancer early and at home, without even the need for internet access, is an incredible example of AI’s potential to break down barriers in healthcare and save lives.

“Promising, first-of-its-kind research like this also demonstrates the crucial role UK innovators can play in improving the lives of people of all backgrounds, wherever they live, and makes clear the value of government investing in research to deliver our plan for change.”

(PA Media/NAN)