DermLite DL1 basic

Description

Teledermoscopy with any Smartphone

The DermLite DL1 basic is a simple-to-use system designed to enable primary care professionals to monitor moles and skin lesions and send DermLite-quality images to specialists for review. It is the ideal solution for high-risk patients or those with a family history of melanoma, including anyone with a lesion of concern and is unable to see a specialist in person. A simple piece of hardware, a smartphone, and an optional iOS app is all it takes to get started.

The Hardware

The DermLite DL1 basic device, a development of the proven DermLite DL1 dermatoscope for smartphones, enables clinicians to capture crystal-clear, polarized dermoscopic images of both pigmented and non-pigmented skin lesions. The unit includes a polarized spacer and glass faceplate, a standard USB cable for charging, and the Magneticonnect® Clamp universal adapter that's compatible with virtually any smartphone or tablet.

Directions for Use (769KB PDF)

Tim's DL1 Thoughts/Comments

So who should buy the DL1?

To me, the DL1 is best for somebody who - on their list of “wants” for a dermatoscope - they want “lightweight and compact.” That is, something easy to carry, clip under your pocket, or throw in your pocket. In other words, they just don't want something large and bulky. Instead, you want something very portable, very light, very compact. Even with one of the included spacers/faceplates attached, it weighs in at just under 54 grams (1.9 oz)!

If being “light and compact” are not necessarily huge issues for you, personally, I would say there are other dermatoscopes out there that will probably give you a better user experience, and a better image, if not just for the mere fact that the lenses are much larger.

The DL1 actually comes in two different versions. It comes in the standard DL1 and it comes in the DL1 “basic.”

The standard DL1 includes the device itself, and you have three different adapter options. The option that most gravitate towards is the use of using the polarized filter, which slips over. It’s very compact. It's flat, it does not stick out, it just minimally adds to the size of the DL1, and that allows you to perform non-contact polarized dermoscopy, which is what most people are doing 95% of the time.

Two other options (included with the standard DL1) are these “slip-on” faceplates - one which is polarized and one which is non-polarized. The length at which these faceplates extend from the body of the DL1 is right around the focal point of the lens in the DL1.

I point that out because the faceplates make contact dermoscopy easy. For example, if you want a staff member who perhaps doesn't him or herself perform dermoscopy regularly, but you need them to take a dermoscopy image for the patient’s chart, when they slip either of these on to the body of the DL1 and then connect that to their camera smartphone, they know that they simply have to “press the DL1 with its faceplate up against the lesion” and right about there it’s going to be in focus.

As mentioned, there are two of these faceplates - one polarized and one non-polarized. So that's great, makes it easy, especially for staff to be using it, but it also means that when you're using the faceplates, in order to really work and for the lesion to be in focus, they need to be in contact with the patient and the lesion.

One of the advantages to non-contact dermoscopy is that you don't have that need to worry about contamination and disinfecting your device with every single patient that you see. But when you use these faceplates on the DL1, contact will be involved.

So yes, they make it easy. They kind of “dummy proof” the system in which staff could slip it over the DL1 and they know it's right around that point to press it onto the lesion, and they're going to be in focus if they need to take some pictures. But the downside is that you're in contact. Not a big deal, but they will have to wipe it down with alcohol or disinfect afterwards.

As mentioned, though, most who are using the DL1 for dermoscopy, most of the time, no contact will be involved and you'll instead be using the simple “slip over” polarized filter that does not extend out and does not require contact.

So then what is the DL1 “basic”?

The DL1 basic is the DL1 device itself (with the battery, LEDs, and lens). It includes one polarized faceplate. So it's less expensive because it only includes the one faceplate.

But by its very nature, if you buy the DL1 “basic,” you are buying what is essentially a contact dermatoscope. Generally speaking, most people nowadays are looking for non-contact dermoscopy for most situations.

So again, “regular” DL1 is where you've got the DL1 device, slip-on polarized filter which does not extend out (and allows you to perform non-contact dermoscopy), and then you have the two faceplate attachments for contact dermoscopy - one of which is polarized, and the other which is not polarized.

With the DL1 “basic,” you get the DL1 device, plus the one slip-on faceplate with the polarized filter built into it.