Systems and methods for the multispectral imaging and characterization of skin tissue

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least thee spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least tree spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a single segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest for each image, where the single segmentation mask is the segmentation mask having largest area of segmentation masks generated from each image in each of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value for each digital image at each spectral band which is a function of a characteristic of the region of interest determined by the segmentation mask;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin.

A system for characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, comprising:

• a source of illumination of light in at least three spectral bands;
• a camera for acquiring digital images of the region of interest based on the light re-emitted from the illuminated region of interest at each of the spectral bands, the digital image comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest;
• memory for storing the digital images provided by the camera;
• a digital processor programmed to perform the steps of:
• segmenting the digital images stored in memory by generating a single segmentation mask, where the single segmentation mask is the segmentation mask having largest area of segmentation masks generated from each image in each of the at least three spectral bands;
• estimating at least one value for each digital image at each spectral band which is a function of the texture of the portion of the region of interest determined by the segmentation mask;
• characterizing the condition of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputting the characterization of the region of interest.

A system for characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, comprising:

• a source of illumination of light in at least three spectral bands;
• a camera for acquiring digital images of the region of interest based on the light re-emitted from the illuminated region of interest at each of the at least three spectral bands, the digital image comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest;
• a memory for storing the digital images;
• a digital processor including:
• digital processing means for segmenting the digital images stored in memory and computing estimated values of parameters which are a function of the segmented images, wherein the digital images are segmented by generating a single segmentation mask, where the single segmentation mask is the segmentation mask having largest area of segmentation masks generated from each image in each of the at least three spectral bands;
• digital processing means for automatically characterizing the condition of the tissue based on the estimated values;
• and
• means for outputting the characterization of the region of interest.

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least three spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least three spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest from a digital image in any one of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value which is a statistical measure of the deviation of the boundary of the region of interest from the boundary of an ellipse of the same area, aspect ratio, and orientation as the segmentation mask;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin.

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least three spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least three spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest from a digital image in any one of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value of a statistical measure of the gradient values of the intensity of the digital images across the border of the segmented images;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin.

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least three spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least three spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest from a digital image in any one of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value based on the ratio of standard deviation of the areas of dermal papillae to their mean within the segmentation mask;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin.

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least three spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least three spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest from a digital image in any one of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value of the average and standard deviation of the thickness of rete ridges within the segmentation mask for a digital image of the region of interest determined by the segmentation mask;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin for a digital image of the region of interest determined by the segmentation mask.

A method of characterizing the condition of a region of interest of skin, wherein the absorption and scattering of light in different spectral bands by the region of interest is a function of the condition of the skin, the method comprising:

• illuminating a portion of the skin including the region of interest by light in at least three spectral bands;
• digitally imaging the portion of the skin including the region of interest at the at least three spectral bands with the light re-emitted by the portion of the skin to generate digital images comprising digital signals whose values are a function of the condition of the region of interest of the skin;
• calibrating each pixel location in the digital image in each spectral band with respect to stored images of a white target material having known diffuse reflectance, each of the stored images being an average of a plurality of images acquired at each spectral band, while the material undergoes continual in-plane motion;
• and
• providing the digital images to a processor, wherein the processor:
• segments the digital images by generating a segmentation mask defining the boundary of the region of interest from a digital image in any one of the at least three spectral bands;
• computes at least one estimated value for each digital image at each spectral band which is a function of a characteristic of the region of interest determined by the segmentation mask;
• characterizes the condition of the region of interest of the skin based on the estimated values;
• and
• outputs the characterization of the condition of the region of interest of the skin.