In 2019, a multidisciplinary team of scientists from several countries developed the Automatic Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, also called APASI. The APASI automatically measures how much psoriasis a patient suffers from by analysing a photo of the patient through the use of Artificial Intelligence. The APASI is the automatic version of the PASI. Through the use of Artificial Intelligence, the APASI automatically calculates the PASI score.
The main objective of APASI (or Automatic PASI) is to provide a tool to accurately and consistently measure the severity of psoriasis during routine evaluations and clinical studies. The main advantage of the APASI is speed. The APASI requires only 23 seconds, while the manual PASI requires between six and 10 minutes.
Another advantage of APASI is the reduction in inter-observer variability. The APASI outperforms traditional methods, achieving a margin of error below 13%, much lower than the usual 20% observed in traditional manual PASI.
The APASI system represents the future of dermatology. It allows clinicians to benefit from the best tool for diagnosing and measuring the severity of psoriasis.
In essence, the APASI allows health care providers to practise evidence-based medicine and improves communication between doctor and patient.