Dermatoscopy

Dermatoscopy (also known as epiluminescence microscopy) is the examination of cutaneous lesionswith a dermatoscope, a magnifier with a light and a liquid medium between the instrument and the skin, thus illuminating the lesion without reflected light.

Skin surface microscopystarted in 1663 by Kolhausand was improved with the addition of immersion oil in 1878 by Abbe. The German dermatologist, Johann Saphier, added a built-in light source to the instrument. Goldmanwas the first dermatologist to coin the term "dermascopy" and to use the dermatoscope to evaluate pigmented cutaneous lesions.

This instrument is helpful to dermatologistsin distinguishing benign from malignant lesions, especially of aid in the diagnosisof malignant melanoma.

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermatoscopy Wikipedia article Dermatoscopy.