Synopsis
Create consented, standardised and securely governed skin images and body maps that support comparison, referral and surveillance without delaying biopsy of suspicious change.
- Obtain and document consent for image capture, storage and each proposed secondary use; clinical-care consent does not automatically authorise teaching or publication.
- Use an overview image to locate the site, a regional view for distribution and a close-up with scale, focus and neutral colour reference when appropriate.
- Body maps must specify side, landmark, lesion number and date so a later clinician can find the same lesion.
- Store images only in the approved clinical record or secure system; personal phones, consumer cloud backups and informal messaging create confidentiality risk.
- For Photography, body maps and lesion monitoring, describe what is seen before assigning a diagnosis, and record site, extent, symptoms, duration and change over time.
- A technically adequate result in Photography, body maps and lesion monitoring can still be misleading when the wrong lesion, site, preparation or clinical question was selected.
Key red flags
Do not substitute serial photography for urgent referral or tissue diagnosis when a lesion is rapidly changing, nodular, ulcerated, bleeding or otherwise clinically suspicious.
Images involving children, intimate skin or coercive circumstances need particularly careful consent, chaperoning and access control.
New nodularity, rapid enlargement, spontaneous bleeding or ulceration requires clinical reassessment rather than another routine photograph.
Investigation priorities
Record distribution, location and morphology at complementary scales.
Management branches
The patient is stable and the result will alter diagnosis, referral or follow-up.
- Define the question for Photography, body maps and lesion monitoring, explain the process and obtain valid consent before exposing, touching, photographing or sampling skin.
- Choose representative anatomy, optimise lighting or specimen technique, and document site, morphology, symptoms and relevant previous treatment. Apply that step specifically within the photography, body maps and lesion monitoring assessment and its recorded clinical context.
- Interpret the result beside the full clinical pattern, communicate uncertainty and arrange ownership of results and safety-netting. Apply that step specifically within the photography, body maps and lesion monitoring assessment and its recorded clinical context.