App to aid diagnosis of skin diseases

A university hospital in Hunan province is developing an online service to accurately diagnose skin conditions in seconds, as well as offer advice on where to seek treatment.

The service, an app that works with WeChat, will require users to upload a photo of the affected area. An artificial intelligence-assisted system will then scan the photo to identify the problem.

The system, currently available only to doctors for testing, is expected to be opened to the public as early as October. It is being developed by the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha and a technology company, Danale, based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.