Introduction to teledermatology

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication technologies for the exchange of medical information over a distance. Teledermatology is a subcategory within telemedicine providing specialist service by a dermatologist over a distance. Two modes of image and data transmission are commonly applied in teledermatology: store-and-forward systems (SAF) and real-time appli­cations (RT). Store and forward is a technique in which information is sent to a data storage unit to be retrieved anytime. In real-time/live interactive telemedicine, information is delivered simultaneously with little or no delay