Doctors’ warning on smartphone cameras: they take pretty photos, not medically accurate ones

It is a trend now entrenched in general practice globally — patients sending their GP a photo of their rash or swollen ankle ahead of a consultation.

There is no doubt that smartphone camera technology is incredible; the blockbuster horror movie 28 Years Later was shot using iPhones.

But when it comes to medicine, smartphone cameras are not such a hit, according to Welsh doctors writing in The Lancet Primary Care and The Conversation.

The cameras are in effect uncalibrated diagnostic tools that put patients at risk of misdiagnosis, says GP Dr Rebecca Payne and colleagues.

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