System and method for optical detection of skin disease

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016166194-A1
Application number	US-201414907208-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 22, 2014
Priority date	Jul 22, 2013
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An optical system for the detection of skin disease, such as melanoma, acquires images of a lesion on a subject's skin at different wavelengths and utilizes a sweeping arm rotating about the lesion in a clock-like sweep to produce diagnostically relevant metrics and classifiers from the image data so as to enhance detection of the skin disease.

First claim

1 .- 49 . (canceled)

50 . A method of diagnostically imaging at least one skin lesion on a subject's skin, comprising the steps of:
illuminating with a first illumination system a first area on a subject's skin; obtaining wide field image data from the illuminated skin using a camera having a first lens with a wide field of view; processing the wide field image data to identify a target area within the first area on the subject's skin, the first area including the at least one skin lesion; illuminating the target area with a second illumination system, and obtaining narrow field image data from the illuminated target area with a camera having a narrow field of view; obtaining narrow field image data from the illuminated target area with a camera having a narrow field of view; and processing the narrow field image data to obtain a diagnosis of the at least one skin lesion.

51 . The method according to claim 50 , further comprising obtaining additional narrow field image data from the target area with a camera having a third field of view narrower than the narrow field of view, said third field of view being the field of view of a confocal microscope.

52 . The method according to claim 51 , further comprising obtaining high resolution narrow field image data from the target area with a camera having a fourth field of view narrower than the third field of view, said fourth field of view being determined by Raman spectrometer.

53 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein processing the wide field image data includes statistical evaluation of the size and irregularity of lesions in the first area.

54 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein processing the narrow field image data includes a clock sweep algorithm transforming the narrow field image data with a processor into metrics and/or one or more classifiers defining the rotational distribution of one or more properties selected from the group consisting of [a] spatial texture features; [b] brightness features; [c] features of a lesion image edge/border, including the sharpness with which the lesion borders normal skin; [d] color variation of a lesion image; [e] variations in the features of the pigmented network including the length, shape, brightness and organization of pigmented network segments; and [f] oxygen saturation tissue as defined by an amount and ratio of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin said metrics and/or one or more classifiers being used to provide the diagnosis.

55 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein the wide field image data is red-green-blue image data.

56 . The method according to claim 55 , wherein the wide field image data is obtained with a camera integrated with a cellular phone.

57 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein the wide field image data is obtained with a camera worn on a user's body, capable of projecting images to the wearer, and having interactive processing capability.

58 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein the wide field image data is hyperspectral image data.

59 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein the narrow field image data is red-green-blue image data.

60 . The method according to claim 50 , wherein the narrow field image data is hyperspectral image data.

61 . The method according to claim 50 , comprising switching lenses and illumination systems in an integrated unit to obtain the wide field image data and narrow field image data with the same unit.

62 . The method according to claim 50 , comprising successively processing meter scale image data, centimeter scale image data, millimeter scale image data and micrometer scale image data with respective scale focal length focusing systems to obtain diagnostic information at each respective focal length.

63 . A system of diagnostic imaging of one or more skin lesions on a subject's skin, comprising:
a wide field camera having a first lens with a wide field of view and a first illumination system adapted to illuminate a first area on a subject's skin corresponding to the first field of view; a narrow field camera having a second lens with a narrow field of view and a second illumination system adapted to illuminate an area within the first area; and a processor operatively connected to the wide field camera and the narrow field camera adapted to obtain and process image data from the wide field camera and the narrow field camera to provide a diagnosis of said one or more skin lesions.

64 . The system according to claim 63 , wherein the first lens and second lens are incorporated in a single camera unit, so that the single camera unit is switchable from a wide field of view to a narrow field of view, the first lens having a longer focal length than the second lens.

65 . The system according to claim 64 , wherein the single camera unit has a first illumination system and a second illumination system adapted to illuminate a wide field of view and a narrow field of view, respectively, and said first and second illumination systems can be deployed with the single camera unit.

66 . The system according to claim 64 , wherein the first camera includes at least one Charged Coupled Device (CCD) sensor or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor detecting Red Greed and Blue (RGB) light.

67 . The system according to claim 64 , wherein the first camera includes at least one Charged Coupled Device (CCD) sensor or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor detecting hyperspectral wavelengths of light.

68 . The system according to claim 64 , wherein the processor is adapted to transform the image data into metrics and/or one or more classifiers defining the rotational distribution of properties selected from the group consisting of [a] spatial texture features; [b] brightness features or [c] features of the lesion image edge/border, including the sharpness with which the lesion borders normal skin; [d] color variation of a lesion on the subject's skin; [e] variations in features of a pigmented network including the length, shape, brightness and organization of pigmented network segments; and [f] oxygen saturation of tissue as defined by the amount and ratio of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin said metrics and/or one or more classifiers being used to provide the diagnosis.

69 . The system according to claim 64 , wherein one or both of the first illumination system and the second illumination system provide illumination at hyperspectral wavelengths of light.

Assignees

• Univ Rockefeller

Inventors

• Gareau Daniel
• Martin Justin

Classifications

• A61B2560/0431

  Portable apparatus, e.g. comprising a handle or case · CPC title

• A61B5/14551

  for measuring blood gases · CPC title

• A61B5/6898

  Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers · CPC title

• A61B5/443

  Evaluating skin constituents, e.g. elastin, melanin, water · CPC title

• A61B5/444 Primary

  Evaluating skin marks, e.g. mole, nevi, tumour, scar · CPC title