Skin imaging techniques for melanoma detection: A scoping review of modalities, clinical viability, and deployment strategies

Mehdi Boostani; Amanda P Siegel; Abhi Eathara; Norbert Kiss; Gyorgy Paragh; Maria M Tsoukas; Kamran Avanaki

doi:10.1016/j.jid.2026.02.021

Skin imaging techniques for melanoma detection: A scoping review of modalities, clinical viability, and deployment strategies

J Invest Dermatol. 2026 Apr 24:S0022-202X(26)00754-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2026.02.021. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mehdi Boostani¹, Amanda P Siegel², Abhi Eathara², Norbert Kiss³, Gyorgy Paragh¹, Maria M Tsoukas⁴, Kamran Avanaki⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, New York, USA.
² Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
³ Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Dermato-oncology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Department of Dermatology, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Electronic address: avanaki@uic.edu.

PMID: 42033440
DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2026.02.021

Abstract

Melanoma incidence is rising, whereas access to dermatologists remains limited. In this review, we identified 114 diagnostic-accuracy studies evaluating 11 noninvasive imaging modalities for melanoma detection: photography-based, dermoscopy, electrical impedance spectroscopy, reflectance confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography based, multispectral/hyperspectral imaging, high-frequency ultrasound, Raman/surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, infrared/thermal imaging, multiphoton tomography, and elastic scattering spectroscopy. Across modalities, sensitivities ranged from 37 to 100%, and specificities ranged from 15 to 100%. Dermoscopy (32 studies/34,700 lesions) and reflectance confocal microscopy (33 studies/10,365 lesions) studies had the largest evidence base. Integrating accuracy with regulatory, reimbursement, and cost data, we propose a 3-tier deployment model from home-based triage to specialist clinic based.

Keywords: Imaging modalities; Melanoma screening; Optical imaging; Spectroscopy; Ultrasound imaging.

Publication types

Review