Skin assessment using image fusion
AssigneeCanfield Scientific, Incorporated
InventorSachin V. Patwardhan
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Abstract
Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for assessing the texture of skin using images thereof. In exemplary embodiments, a texture map of an area of skin is generated from a combination of a parallel-polarized image and a cross-polarized image of the area of skin. The texture map is then flattened to remove the underlying curvature of the skin. A texture roughness metric is then generated based on the flattened texture map. An image of the texture map and the metric can be displayed to provide visual and alphanumeric representations of the texture of skin, thereby facilitating the comparison of baseline and follow-up images of the skin, such as those taken before and after treatment.
Claims20
An apparatus comprising:
- a storage device configured to store instructions;
- and
- a processor configured to execute instructions stored in the storage device to:
- obtain a parallel-polarized image of the skin area;
- obtain a cross-polarized image of the skin area;
- generate a texture map from a combination of the parallel-polarized and cross-polarized images;
- generate at least one of a texture map image or a texture metric from the texture map;
- and
- cause the at least one of the texture map, the texture map image, or the texture metric to be displayed, stored, communicated, or processed.
A method comprising:
- obtaining a parallel-polarized image of the skin area;
- obtaining a cross-polarized image of the skin area;
- generating a texture map from a combination of the parallel-polarized and cross-polarized images;
- generating at least one of a texture map image or a texture metric from the texture map;
- and
- causing the at least one of the texture map, the texture map image, or the texture metric to be displayed, stored, communicated, or processed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.