THP-g(T2)

Study on Digital Imaging Colorimeter in Dermatology

KeKe Shang, Ying Liu

College of Science, Key Laboratory of Opt-electronics Information Technical
Science,EMC, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072
Te1:086-022-27402979 E-Mail: shangkee@evou.com

Abstract-we introduce a measurement sysiem on the color of skin diseases, then The HSV color space has been

corrected to depict skin color alteration. At last, we analyzed three indexes fhmugh some clinical cases.
Introduction
In dermatology, the color of skin, color distribution and the shape of skin lesions could convey
important diagnostic information. With the quick development on computer technology and CCD
technology in recent years, it has became a major direction to apply the digital imaging technology in
skin diseased diagnosis. 11-31
In the paper, we introduced an improved digital imaging measurement system on skin diseases
dignosis Then basing on analysis of a large amount of clinical cases on skin diseases, we corrected the
HSV color space in order to analyze characteristics of the color on disease skin. On the end, we
examined the meaning of three indexes through analysis of some cases.
the measurement system
The measurement system consists of the illumination part, the image taking part and the data
analyzing part. Proper illumination is important to acquire high quality and reproducible images.
Taking all considerations of the temperature of light, spatial homogeneity of light source and sensitivity
of human skin to the temperature, we chose 150w halogen light as the source. We also applied an
annular light diffuser fit around the camera to guarantee good spatial homogeneity of the light field.
Furthermore, an infrared ray filter is added in light source in order to reduce heat of light on the skin. In
addition, we used an aluminum cylinder with black inboard to minimize interference of stray light
when imaging. We use Sony F717 camera as the image taking part. We alsn wrote software to
transform RGB color space into HSV color space and computed indexes of the specific area. The
whole system is installed on an adjustable multi-direction rack for easily handle as shown in the
figurel.

Pgl &malic ahgram of U I w omartmnabl mtup

Correction of HSV color space

In the previously described system, the output image is presented in RGB color space. RGB color
space is not suitable for analysis since it is a physicochemical expression of colors, which does not
reflect human visual perception. We chose the HSV color space because it is steady under white light

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 THP-g(T2)

illumination.[4] In the paper, we normalize the value of H, S and V respectively.

Through analyzing images of various skin diseases taken by the system, we found When there is
erythema due to skin inflammation, the color distribution range of the skin is 0-0.2 and 0.9-1. In HSV
color space, both 0-0.2 and 0.9-1 present red. To solve the above problem, we move the hue axis in
HSV coordinates. First, we add 0.2 to every value of hue, then sori out the value of hue which is larger

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than 1; minus those values by I. Through this way, we can combine those two separate red areas which
hue values approximately distribute from 0-and 0.3 in new corrected hsv color space. As a result, the
computed value of hue stays coherent to Doctor’s observation and judgment.

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result and discussion

Here is an example that we used the system to measure and analyze a clinic case of skin allergy.
Figure 2 shows the relation between saturation and stages of allergy. Figure 3 demonstrates the relation
between of hue and the stage of allergy.
Through the examination, we found: 1. The value of saturation increases along with severity of
allergy. Within a certain range, the relation is proportional. 2. The value of hue decrease when allergy is
getting worse, but degree of change is not significant. The above result maybe come from the followed
reason. When inflammation ocgurs, capillary vessels in dermis will abound with blood. Concentration
of erythrocyte in capillary vessels increases dramatically. As the result, color of skin will be turning to
red. Conclusion # I from the above examination could be explained by the definition of saturation and
Lambert-Beer principle.
Moreover, through analyzing skin diseases caused by skin pigment changes, such as chloasma or
chromatophore loss, we found that the value of H changes along with the progress of illness, while
value of S does not vary much. Since V doesn’t contain information on color, we won’t use it as index
during the analysis of skin color. However, in the further analysis on the image of skin diseases, we
may rely on the rate of value to study black hair, naevus and flash from psoriasis with high light
reflection.
REFERENCES
[I] Costas Balas “An Imaging Colorimeter for Noncontact Tissue Color Mapping” IEEE Transaction
on biomedical engineering Vo1.44,pp:468-474( 1997)
[ZIYves Vander Haeghen et al. “An Imaging system with calibrated color image acquisition for use in
dermatology” IEEE Transaction on medical imaging v01.19,pp:722-730 2000
[JIAkira Kawada,Hiroko Kameyama, et al “a new approach to the evaluation of whitening effect of a
cosmetic using computer analysis of video-captured image” Journal of Dermatological science
Vo1.29,pp: 10-18(2002)
[4]Guansong Liu, Zongqi Lu “research on the stable of some color space under different illumination”
MINI-MICRO SYSTEM(Chinese) vo1.23, pp 882-885(2002)

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