Patients are invited to participate at their regular skin examination visits at Hospital
Clinic Barcelona. A member of the research team will read through the Participant
Information and Consent Form (PICF) with the patient and answer any questions they may
have. Once consent is given, the following study activities will take place.
Total Body Photography: this is done with the VECTRA machine that will require you
to be photographed in your underwear. The VECTRA is a framework of 92 cameras which
will simultaneously capture images of a patient holding one anatomical pose. VECTRA
computer software is then used to construct a 3D avatar of the patient, enabling the
image record of skin naevi. This imaging is normally part of the patient's skin
examination visit. The images used for annotation in research will be de-identified
(anonynmised) by firstly removing any images of the face and other identifying
features (e.g. tattoos, scars, nipples), then processing the 3D avatar into small 2D
images of 5x8cm section of skin. These methods are designed to protect patient
privacy of images used for AI development.
Complete a Questionnaire: consists of 45 items/questions, taking approximately 10
minutes to complete. Questionnaire data is designed to collect information relevant
to melanoma risk, while maintaining a low risk of being individually identifiable.
topics cover include demographics, skin cancer history, sun/health behaviour, and
phenotype information (e.g. hair/skin/eye colour).
Genetic sample: in some cases the hospital will already hold a genetic sample, in
this case we ask patient consent to access this information. When no sample is on
record, we will ask the patient to provide a saliva or blood sample for genetic
analysis. Genetic information will be analysed by looking for single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs) relating to melanoma risk (approximately 80-100 SNPs to be
analysed). A polygenic risk score (PRS) is then calculated based on the presence or
absence of relevant SNPs. The final PRS will be used in the study (no individual
genetic information will be shared outside the hospital.
All de-identified data (image, survey, and PRS) are then used by the iToBoS consortium to
develop a cognitive assistant (AI model) to provide clinician support in screening for
melanoma using total body photography.