A Dermoscope is a medical hand-held imaging device doctors use to examine a person’s skin, hair, or nails.

It features a bright LED light source and a magnifier of typically 10 x mag. It works like a magnifying glass but has special optics to enhance the appearance of skin structures.

It can help diagnose certain conditions, like skin cancer because it can reveal fine extra detail than cannot be seen with a naked eye.

Dermatoscopes use very bright white light and magnification to help a dermatologist see how a person’s skin looks in more detail than that would not be visible to the naked eye.

Use of polarised filters reduced the need for skin contact inspection. There are some structures better seen under polarised light, and some better under nonpolarized contact (using a fluid interface) dermoscopy.

Medical review researchers found that using a dermatoscope was much more effective in diagnosing skin cancerous and noncancerous skin lesions than a simple unmagnified visual inspection of a skin lesion.

Dermatoscopes are more accurate in diagnosing melanomas than the naked eye alone when utilized by a trained professional.

This is crucial as it can save a person time and potentially prevent them from undergoing surgery unnecessarily.