IBM melanoma research manager Rahil Garnavi (L) and MoleMap Australia diagnosing dermatologist Dr Martin Haskett. The two firms are collaborating on early detection of skin cancer.

IBM is breaking ground in the early detection of skin cancer using its supercomputer Watson, potentially saving the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars.

The tech giant has partnered with skin cancer detection program MoleMap and the Melanoma Institute of Australia to teach the computer how to recognise cancerous skin lesions.

The initial focus is on the early detection of melanomas, which are the rarest but most deadly type of skin cancer, and make up just 2 per cent of diagnoses but 75 per cent of skin cancer deaths.

IBM vice-president and lab director of IBM Research Australia, Joanna Batstone, told AFR Weekend her colleagues, including melanoma research manager Rahil Garnavi, had so far fed 41,000 melanoma images into the system with accompanying clinician notes and it had a 91 per cent accuracy at detecting skin cancers.

The Watson supercomputer uses machine learning algorithms in conjunction with image recognition technology to detect patterns in the moles.

"Today, if you have a skin lesion, a clinician's accuracy is about 60 per cent. If you use a high-powered DermaScope [a digital microscope], a trained clinician can identify with 80 per cent accuracy," said Ms Batstone.

"We want to achieve 90 per cent accuracy for all data and we also want it to do more than just say yes or no in regards to whether or not it's cancerous, we want it to be able to identify what type of skin cancer it is, or if it's another type of skin disease."

Australian and New Zealanders have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. In 2016 there were more than 13,000 new cases of melanoma skin cancer.

Of those with melanoma, there were almost 1800 deaths, making up 3.8 per cent of all cancer deaths in Australia in 2016.

Non-melanoma skin cancers alone are estimated to cost the government more than $703 million a year, according to 2010 research using medicare data.

Martin Haskett from MoleMap said diagnoses rates of skin cancer were relatively stable, with a slight decrease in younger people thanks to sun avoidance education campaigns.

"It occurs more frequently in older people and we're in a situation where the population is ageing. The older population has not been exposed to the sun protection campaigns and as you get older your immune system performs differently and is less capable," Dr Haskett said.

But even in younger generations, awareness does not always equate to action. Olympic swimmer Mack Horton had a skin cancer scare last year after a doctor watching TV saw an odd looking mole on him while he was racing and alerted the team doctor.

"With young people in general a tan is still seen as cool," he said.

"When they pulled me aside and notified me I didn't think much of it... but eight weeks later I got it checked and they said they'd have to take it out that day and then they said they would rush the results and that's when it dawned on me how serious it was."

IBM is setting up a free skin check event at Sydney's Bondi Beach over the weekend.

Beach goers will be able to stand in front of a smart mirror created by IBM that takes in their visual appearance and asks them questions about their age, family history and behavioural patterns. Within minutes it then generates a report on that individual's skin cancer risk. MoleMap will also be checking people's moles for free.

More here:

IBM's Watson supercomputer leading charge into early melanoma detection - The Australian Financial Review