A dermatologist a short while ago with this idea would have to find a willing and able partner to do a bunch of work -- meaning that most likely it would just remain an idea.
This isn't just for non-tech people either -- I have a decades long list of ideas I'd like to work on but simply do not have time for. So now I'm cranking up the ol' AI agents an seeing what I can do about it.
jjallen · 1h ago
Very cool. I learned a lot as a non dermatologist but someone with a sister who has had melanoma at a very young age.
I went from 50% to 85% very quickly. And that’s because most of them are skin cancer and that was easy to learn.
So my only advice would be to make closer to 50% actually skin cancer.
Although maybe you want to focus on the bad ones and get people to learn those more.
This was way harder than I thought this detection would be. Makes me want to go to a dermatologist.
sungam · 59m ago
Thanks, this is a good point - I think a 50:50 balance of cancer versus harmless lesions would be better and will change this in a future version.
Of course in reality the vast majority of skin lesions and moles are harmless and the challenge is identifying those that are not and I think that even a short period of focused training like this can help the average person to identify a concerning lesion.
ziptron · 8m ago
Thank you for making this.
My dad passed away from squamous cell carcinoma in 2010. In retrospect, through my casual research into the space and tools like this one, it occurs to me that the entire event was likely preventable and occurred merely because we did not react quickly enough to the cancer’s presence.
rcruzeiro · 5m ago
I’ve learned that basal cell carcinoma can look scarily unremarkable!
Would be useful to add some explanation on the defining features that would give it away to a dermatologist.
DrewADesign · 45m ago
This is awesome. Great use of AI to realize an idea. Subject matter experts making educational tools is one of the most hopeful things to come out of AI.
It’s just a bummer that it’s far more frequently used to pump wealth to tech investors from the entire class of people that have been creating things on the internet for the past couple of decades, and that projects like this fuel the “why do you oppose fighting cancer” sort of counter arguments against that.
jampekka · 1h ago
To my eye most of the basal cell carsinomas looked like everyday rashes, pimples or scratches. My correct rate was under chance. This could be hypochondria inducing for many?
sungam · 56m ago
Basal cell carcinomas can look very similar to other harmless skin lesions. The key thing is that they will not resolve with time and will slowly grow whereas a rash, pimple or scratch will resolve over a few months.
Fortunately basal cell carciomas are very slow growing and do not spread elsewhere in the body or cause other health issues and a delay of a few months in diagnosis does not have a big impact on outcome.
lukko · 48m ago
I'm a doctor too and would love to hear more about the rationale and process for creating this.
It's quite interesting to have a binary distinction: 'concerned vs not concerned', which I guess would be more relevant for referring clinicians, rather than getting an actual diagnosis. Whereas naming multiple choice 'BCC vs melanoma' would be more of a learning tool useful for medical students..
Echoing the other comments, but it would be interesting to match the cards to the actual incidence in the population or in primary care - although it may be a lot more boring with the amount of harmless naevi!
y-curious · 59m ago
Half of these basal cell carcinomas look like picked pimples. Are there any sort of protocols for self screening for carcinomas a la self-testing ones testicles? I've never heard of anything other than the ABCDE for moles
sungam · 51m ago
Look for any new skin lesion that is not resolving with time especially if persisting for a number of months. You can take photos of different body sites and repeat every couple of months and then put the two photos side by side on a computer screen to look for any difference. If unsure about the lesions that are present then worth getting a full skin check with a dermatologist as a baseline so that you then just need to look for new/changing lesions.
Classically, BCC's have a pearly surface and 'rolled' edges, which differentiates them from pimples.
toledocavani · 57m ago
Is there any reputable (reviewed, endorsed) AI model to detect skin cancer?
I have a lot of similar moles, and playing with this app make me concern about all of them.
scotty79 · 50m ago
I heard that the good rule of thumb is to be concerned about unique ones. It much less probable that you develop exactly same looking cancer in two unrelated spots.
agnishom · 1h ago
This is a good use of vibecoding. The main "algorithm" to be implemented is very straightforward , and for the hard stuff, we have an expert.
sungam · 47m ago
Yes I think so - it's a very simple application but I would never have had the time to do it myself.
If anyone is interested: Coded using Gemini Pro 2.5 (free version) in about 2-3 hours. Single file including all html/js/css, Vanilla JS, no backend, scores persisted with localStorage.
leetrout · 1h ago
Why do the images get a weird offset slice effect on safari on mobile after submitting a guess with the buttons?
sungam · 50m ago
No idea, I will look into this
nasir · 40m ago
Learned quite a bit and seems like a basic but necessary thing to know about!
sungam · 27m ago
Thanks, I'm glad you found it useful. My patients were constantly asking for a way to learn what skin cancer looked like beyond the ABCDE rule and I wanted to try and introduce a gamification aspect to it.
aegypti · 1h ago
Basal Cell Carcinoma is very gross!
Think a set number of questions to start with would be good. Not sure if there’s an end point, I drifted off after ~20 or so
sungam · 46m ago
Good idea will implement this is a future version
NoiseBert69 · 1h ago
What happens if I make a picture of my cat with it?
sungam · 56m ago
Not sure how you would do this but feel free to try!
k2xl · 1h ago
Wow this game just proves to me how difficult your job is. I am basically getting 50%.
One or two seemed quite obvious to me as concerning or not but turned out to be the other way
sungam · 40m ago
It can be challenging but the large majority of skin cancers are fairly obvious and the main reason people don't spot them is because they are not checking their skin regularly and don't have any idea what to look for. Hopefully this app will help patients to learn the basic things to look for.
quantummagic · 38m ago
Nice Job. This really highlights that people who obsess in telling us that "AI hallucinates", and "AI isn't intelligent", are missing the point. At the end of the day, it's simply useful, and incredibly empowering.
sungam · 29m ago
Yes, without AI this app definitely would not exist as I would not have had time to make it. I think that this will apply to multiple other areas within the economy.
A dermatologist a short while ago with this idea would have to find a willing and able partner to do a bunch of work -- meaning that most likely it would just remain an idea.
This isn't just for non-tech people either -- I have a decades long list of ideas I'd like to work on but simply do not have time for. So now I'm cranking up the ol' AI agents an seeing what I can do about it.
I went from 50% to 85% very quickly. And that’s because most of them are skin cancer and that was easy to learn.
So my only advice would be to make closer to 50% actually skin cancer.
Although maybe you want to focus on the bad ones and get people to learn those more.
This was way harder than I thought this detection would be. Makes me want to go to a dermatologist.
Of course in reality the vast majority of skin lesions and moles are harmless and the challenge is identifying those that are not and I think that even a short period of focused training like this can help the average person to identify a concerning lesion.
My dad passed away from squamous cell carcinoma in 2010. In retrospect, through my casual research into the space and tools like this one, it occurs to me that the entire event was likely preventable and occurred merely because we did not react quickly enough to the cancer’s presence.
Would be useful to add some explanation on the defining features that would give it away to a dermatologist.
It’s just a bummer that it’s far more frequently used to pump wealth to tech investors from the entire class of people that have been creating things on the internet for the past couple of decades, and that projects like this fuel the “why do you oppose fighting cancer” sort of counter arguments against that.
Fortunately basal cell carciomas are very slow growing and do not spread elsewhere in the body or cause other health issues and a delay of a few months in diagnosis does not have a big impact on outcome.
It's quite interesting to have a binary distinction: 'concerned vs not concerned', which I guess would be more relevant for referring clinicians, rather than getting an actual diagnosis. Whereas naming multiple choice 'BCC vs melanoma' would be more of a learning tool useful for medical students..
Echoing the other comments, but it would be interesting to match the cards to the actual incidence in the population or in primary care - although it may be a lot more boring with the amount of harmless naevi!
Photos of basal cell carcinoma (no affiliation): https://dermnetnz.org/topics/basal-cell-carcinoma
If anyone is interested: Coded using Gemini Pro 2.5 (free version) in about 2-3 hours. Single file including all html/js/css, Vanilla JS, no backend, scores persisted with localStorage.
Think a set number of questions to start with would be good. Not sure if there’s an end point, I drifted off after ~20 or so
One or two seemed quite obvious to me as concerning or not but turned out to be the other way