In the present world, telemedicine is becoming more and more commonly practiced. While it can address the gap in access to care in the remote communities, there is not yet a good system to perform telemedicine in resource-limited settings.

For over five years, we have been working on developing a system that people in remote communities can use to improve their access to medical care, even without the internet connection. This is the “eSkinHealth”.

We especially focus on neglected tropical diseases that affect the skin, or the skin NTDs. This is because skin images serve as a strong tool in diagnosing and managing the conditions and which can be taken by our smartphones or tablets that many of us own nowadays.

How can technology be leveraged to manage skin diseases in an environment with limited internet access?

The “eSkinHealth” system was developed to address these challenges. This system serves as a portable patient electronic record as well as a platform for teledermatology when a healthcare provider needs support from a remote specialist thereby contributing to better health outcomes – Data can be entered and reviewed without internet. The platform is also used for sharing highly dense information with remote medical professionals and researchers.