More than one skin check every minute: AI platform screens for 70+ conditions, from acne to skin cancer
Autoderm's CE-marked AI technology, which powers the Boots Online Doctor SmartSkin Checker, has supported hundreds of thousands of skin checks across a broad range of conditions.
Barcelona, / London — 4th May 2026
Autoderm, the AI dermatology technology that powers the Boots SmartSkin Checker, is sharing new clinical evidence on the service's first year of operation. The SmartSkin Checker is a free AI skin-check tool available via Boots Online Doctor. Depending on the result, users may be signposted to the Boots Mole Scanning Service, operated by ScreenCancer, which is available in over 130 stores nationwide. This in-store service uses dermatoscopic imaging of moles and pigmented lesions, with specialist analysis to help identify lesions that may require further assessment.
The SmartSkin Checker now supports more than one skin check every minute, with each assessment screening for over 70 skin conditions in under one second from a single smartphone photo.
Supporting skin cancer detection
Malignant tumours account for approximately 3–7% of flagged results across Autoderm deployments. The platform screens for the three most clinically significant skin cancers: malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
A broad range of everyday skin concerns
Around 40% of pharmacy visits involve a skin-related question, and most of these are inflammatory, infectious, or benign rather than cancer-related. Autoderm supports six clinical categories covering a broad range of conditions: inflammatory (eczema, psoriasis, rosacea), infections (fungal, bacterial, viral), benign tumours, malignant and precancerous lesions, genital dermatoses, and chronic skin diseases. Each assessment returns one of three risk levels with a recommended care pathway: self-care, pharmacy consultation or online doctor review, or urgent clinical referral.
Clinical evidence
Autoderm is among the most extensively studied AI dermatology platforms, with five peer-reviewed publications across six countries. Two studies anchor the evidence base:
Escalé-Besa et al., Nature Scientific Reports (2023), independent validation led by researchers at the Institut Català de la Salut across six Spanish primary care centres. Autoderm's Top-5 accuracy of 89% matched dermatologist Top-3 accuracy of 90% on in-scope conditions; 92% of GPs rated it a useful decision support tool; 34% of dermatology referrals were identified as potentially avoidable.
Randomised UK GP reader study (2024), AI-assisted GPs achieved 69% Top-1 diagnostic accuracy vs. 48% without AI. Dermatology referrals fell by 40%, average time per case was significantly reduced, and 100% of AI- assisted GPs said they would use Autoderm in clinical practice.
Safety and regulatory status
Over 2 million API calls have been processed with zero adverse events since 2018, with no alerts identified across MHRA, BfArM, or FDA adverse event databases. Autoderm is a CE-marked medical device (MDD Class I, transitioning to MDR Class IIa), and has received FDA Breakthrough Device designation.
Quote: Dr. Alexander Börve, Founder & CEO, Autoderm
"More than one skin check every minute, that's the scale at which AI dermatology now operates in the UK. And most of those checks are not about cancer. If an AI platform only sees melanoma, it misses the 95% of patients who walk into a pharmacy with a rash, a fungal infection, or an acne flare-up. What Boots has built with the SmartSkin Checker is a full-spectrum digital front door that routes each person to the right care pathway. The science has to work across all of it, not just the headline conditions."
About Autoderm
Autoderm is a European-American health technology company providing a CE-marked AI dermatology screening API that analyses smartphone photos for 70+ skin conditions in under one second. Partners include Boots UK and DocMorris in Germany. Founder and CEO Dr. Alexander Börve, MD (Sahlgrenska University Hospital) and PhD candidate (University of Gothenburg), has authored eight peer-reviewed publications from 2009 to 2024, including the 2023 Nature validation study. www.autoderm.ai
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