Melanoma app wins West Wireless Developers Challenge

Jeff Byers | | Health Exec | Precision Medicine
Steven Palmer, PhD, took top honors in the West Wireless Health Institute (WWHI) Developers Challenge for his Veterans Melanoma Early Warning System (VMEWS@Home), a wireless application that alerts a user to early signs of the most dangerous form of skin cancer and can send information to a healthcare provider. 

VMEWS@Home guides a user through a monthly skin self-examination, gathers photographs of moles and skin lesions and provides image comparisons so the user can see a change in the appearance of a mole. The app includes an option to electronically forward that visual information to a dermatology clinic for review and recommendation, according to San Diego-based WWHI.

WWHI issued its Developers Challenge in conjunction with the Veterans Affairs Innovation Initiative (VAi2) in October 2010. The challenge called on innovators to create a cost-effective app or device to wirelessly connect patients and clinicians within the VA health system and share data pertinent to a patient's care, according to the institute.

Jeff Byers

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