Photographing your moles

Taking a good quality photo of a skin lesion is not as easy as it seems. Photos should be well-lit and in focus, and preferably magnified using a specialised device. This can be difficult, and it might require several attempts.

To achieve the best quality, we strongly recommend using a magnifying device such as the MoleScope app to systematically file your images and potentially share them with your Spot Check Clinic doctor.

Taking photos without a magnifying device

This procedure is not recommended. It’s much harder to accurately diagnose a lesion without adequate magnification.

This photo was taken using an iPhone 11 with no magnifier. The shape and colour of the mole are visible, but fine details are obscured by wrinkles in the skin and reflected light.

Magnifying devices

For best results, we strongly recommend that you use a specialised magnification device to take the picture; otherwise, your skin cancer doctor won’t be able to provide you with an accurate assessment.

To take good quality pictures of your moles or other suspicious spots, we recommend using a magnification device that attaches to the camera of your smart phone or mobile device.

Taking photos using MoleScope

The MoleScope II and MoleScope Lite are lenses that attach to a smartphone and magnify skin lesions. The MoleScope II illuminates the skin with a polarised light. Both are available from the manufacturer MetaOptima.

We recommend that you take photos using the MoleScope app. It will automatically upload your photos to the MoleScope shared medical record.

Photo taken with a MoleScope II

This photo was taken using an iPhone 11 and a MoleScope II. The structure of the mole is clearly visible, showing fine network structures and tiny blood vessels.

The following video refers to the MoleScope app as well as the MoleScope skin magnifier.

After you’ve taken photos of your spot

If you photographed your spots using the MoleScope app, they will automatically upload to your MoleScope record. You can view them on your phone or tablet via the MoleScope app or on the web at app.molescope.com.

If you used the camera app on your phone, upload your photos to the MoleScope website or import them into the MoleScope app on your mobile device. This makes the photos part of the medical record shared with your skin cancer doctor.If you would like a skin cancer doctor’s opinion on a photo you’ve taken, you can use our online consulting service.