Wound analysis procedures

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for wound analysis of a person's externally visible wound. The method uses a smartphone with a camera, a wound marker that can be applied to the person's skin, and an evaluation device. The method comprises the following steps: - Attaching the wound marker in such a way that the camera can capture a combined image of the wound marker and the wound; - capturing the image with the camera such that the captured image contains a combined image of the wound and the wound marker; and - Evaluating the image with the evaluation device, wherein the actual marker size of the wound marker is stored in the evaluation device or can be retrieved by it and wherein the evaluation device, based on the image of the wound marker, carries out a size comparison between the stored marker size and the marker size of the imaged wound marker in order to determine the actual size of the imaged wound.

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to a method for analyzing a person's wound using a portable recording device. Furthermore, the invention relates to a wound marker for marking a wound to be analyzed using the method. Background of the invention

[0002] If a person has a wound that requires long-term care, they typically consult a certified healthcare provider (CHC). A CHC is someone with specialized training (medical professionals, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.). The CHC documents and cares for the wound. To prevent the wound from worsening, the person with the wound requiring treatment must visit a CHC on-site for wound assessment or evaluation regularly, for example, at least once or several times a week, or a CHC must visit the person. Disclosure of the invention

[0003] In contrast, the invention is based on the object of creating a technically simple method, in particular a measuring method, with which a person's wound can be analyzed and / or measured. This would, for example, make it conceivable for the person with the wound to independently document and / or treat the wound.

[0004] This problem is solved according to the features of patent claim 1.

[0005] Advantageous further developments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

[0006] According to the invention, a computer-implemented method for wound analysis of a person's externally visible wound is provided. The method is carried out using a mobile recording device for images and / or videos. The recording device is, for example, a smartphone or a tablet with a camera function. Furthermore, a wound marker and an evaluation device are provided for the method. The evaluation device can be part of the recording device and can be connected to it via a communication device. The wound marker can be designed like a plaster and / or, for example, have a fastening means, in particular in the form of an adhesive surface, for attaching it to the person's skin. The method preferably comprises the following steps: - Applying the wound marker to the skin of the person and adjacent to the wound in such a way that a joint image of the wound marker and the wound, in particular of the person, can be recorded with the recording device; - Recording an image - in particular a colour image - with the recording device in such a way that the recorded image has a joint image of the - preferably entire - wound and the - preferably entire - wound marker; - Evaluating the image with the evaluation device, wherein the physical, in particular circumferential marker size and / or areal marker size, of the wound marker is stored in the evaluation device and wherein the evaluation device, based on the image of the wound marker in the image, carries out a size comparison between the stored marker size and the marker size of the imaged wound marker in order to determine the actual size of the imaged wound therefrom.

[0007] This solution has the advantage of allowing a simple indirect measurement of the wound size using a simple device and with comparatively high accuracy—especially compared to manual measurements. The indirect measurement can be performed by the patient themselves, for example, as they simply take a picture of the wound along with the wound marker.

[0008] In other words, the procedure allows a wound or reference marker to be placed next to the wound. This could be an object of a fixed size, for example, approximately 1.5 cm in diameter. Due to its fixed size, this marker serves as a reference for technical size comparison with the wound. This yields, for example, the length and width, as well as the area of ​​the wound.

[0009] Based on the marker size determination, the image containing the wound and wound marker can be scaled. If multiple images are acquired at different times, they can advantageously be scaled to a uniform size.

[0010] The wound marker or reference marker can, as already mentioned above, have a fastening means designed to fasten the wound marker to the skin of the person. The wound marker can have an outer side, in particular a top side, and an inner side, in particular a bottom side. The outer side can be visible from the outside when fastened, for example in such a way that it can be recorded by the camera together with the wound. The inner side can lie on or on the skin of the person when fastened. Preferably, a machine-readable code can be visible on the outer side and designed in such a way that it can be recorded and / or read by a sensor, for example the camera, when fastened. Alternatively or additionally, a symbol can be provided visibly on the outer side.This is preferably designed in such a way that the person can identify the orientation of the wound marker based on the symbol, and the marker can be aligned accordingly—in particular, parallel to the body axis. The wound marker has the advantage that it allows the wound analysis method to be designed in a simple manner, for example, by allowing the size and / or orientation of the wound to be determined with minimal effort based on the wound marker.

[0011] The wound marker is preferably flat and / or designed as a plaster and / or as a textile and / or made of plastic, especially reusable. The wound marker can be designed to adapt to the person's body shape, for example, by being flexible and / or elastic and / or soft and / or pliable. Such a design of the wound marker enables secure and easy attachment and thus reliable image capture.

[0012] The fastening means of the wound marker can be designed simply as an adhesive surface on the inside. The adhesive surface is configured, for example, for repeated bonding. Alternatively or additionally, the wound marker could be attached by a cuff, which can be part of the wound marker or a separate part. Alternatively or additionally, the wound marker could consist of a material, at least on its inside, that enables adhesion to the skin—particularly for a short time—and permits repeated use. Preferably, the inner surface or surface of the wound marker in contact with the skin is disinfectable. The material is, for example, a plastic. The symbol provided for the wound marker is preferably machine-readable. It can form an axis and / or has an orientation.This has the advantage that the wound marker can be attached by the person next to the wound with a specific orientation, wherein the orientation can be read out via the evaluation device. For example, the attachment is made in such a way that the axis and / or orientation formed by the symbol runs parallel to the body axis, in particular when the person is in an upright position with the arms and legs arranged approximately parallel to one another. Preferably, the symbol is designed in such a way that it indicates a machine-readable direction. For example, the symbol is designed as an arrow, which is machine-readable and can additionally be used by the person to recognize a direction. The wound marker can be aligned by the person in the intended manner using the machine-readable symbol.

[0013] Alternatively or in addition to the method step “evaluating the image with the evaluation device in which the size of the wound is evaluated”, the following step can be provided in the method according to the invention: - Evaluating the image with the evaluation device, wherein the alignment and / or orientation of the camera relative to the wound and / or the wound marker is determined based on the coding and / or the symbol. For example, a distortion of the symbol can be determined by the evaluation device, wherein the distortion depends on the arrangement of the camera relative to the wound marker. This has the advantage of enabling an indirect measurement of the camera's position relative to the wound marker, for example, to align the image based on the measurement result.

[0014] The evaluation device can rotate the image and / or the image representation—for example, in 2D or 3D—and / or adjust it—for example, by rotating and / or twisting it around a vertical and / or horizontal image axis—and / or straighten it so that it exhibits a predetermined target alignment between the wound and / or between the wound marker and the camera. This means, for example, that the image is realigned as if the image plane of the recording device and the marker plane of the wound marker and / or the wound plane of the wound had been approximately parallel during the recording.

[0015] In a further embodiment of the invention, an image is captured, processed, and stored at different times, resulting in a plurality of images being captured and stored that are uniformly aligned by the evaluation unit. This allows a wound healing process, for example, by tracking the change in size of the wound, to be observed in a simple, device-based manner.

[0016] Thus, for example, depending on the angle and / or orientation of the camera, the image can be rotated by multiplying it by a rotation matrix. This allows, for example, the orientation of all captured images in a given time interval to be equated. After image rotation, the image can be aligned, for example, along a z-axis or body axis, vertex-ward. This improves comparability of the individual images, and changes in texture can be more easily tracked by the algorithm.

[0017] In other words, the reference marker can contain a 2D code. A symbol for spatial orientation of the patient (e.g., an arrow or a manikin) can be located in its center. When applying the reference marker, the person can place it over the symbol, along the vertex of the body. A color image of the wound is preferably taken using the smartphone camera.

[0018] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method comprises the following in order to evaluate the image with regard to size and / or orientation: - Segmentation of the wound and / or wound marker, in particular pixel-by-pixel, of the recorded image from the background via the evaluation device; and / or - Segmentation of the area of ​​the wound marker or within the wound marker with the symbol and / or the coding by means of a threshold value or threshold via the evaluation device, whereby the orientation of the symbol can be determined.

[0019] Preferably, the evaluation device uses a machine learning algorithm for evaluating the marker size on the recorded image and / or for evaluating the orientation of the image, in particular by segmentation.

[0020] In other words, the AI ​​can segment the wound pixel-by-pixel from the background, just like the 2D code. Within the segmented area of ​​the 2D code, the symbol for spatial orientation of the patient can be segmented using the threshold value, and its orientation can be detected.

[0021] Preferably, incorrect attachment of the wound marker can be detected by evaluating the marker size and / or the machine-readable code and / or the symbol and / or the orientation.

[0022] According to the invention, a computer-implemented method or measuring method for determining the size of necrotic tissue of a person is provided, which, in addition to or as an alternative to one or more of the aforementioned method steps, in particular comprises: - displaying an image with a recorded wound on a display device of the recording device; - providing a marking device on the display device for the person such that the person marks or marks in color at least one area of ​​the image containing necrotic tissue, in particular with a finger; - Evaluation of the marked image via the evaluation device in such a way that the size of the necrotic tissue is determined based on the marking.

[0023] This solution has the advantage of measuring the size of necrotic tissue with comparative accuracy using a simple device. This simplicity also allows the measurement to be performed by a patient. No machine learning is required for the measurement, saving resources.

[0024] The display device is, for example, simply designed as a touch-sensitive screen.

[0025] The marking device can comprise a marker of a fixed size. For example, the marker is designed as a dot or circle.

[0026] Areas of the image marked using the marking device can be displayed semi-transparently. This allows the person making the marking to continue to see the wound in the image and the previously made marking. Semi-transparent, for example, means that the image in the marked area is no longer completely transparent to the person, but only partially visible, for example, by applying a "fog layer" or blurring the marked area.

[0027] For marking purposes, a marking layer can be placed over the image via the evaluation device, whereby when marking via the marking device the image remains unchanged and the marking layer has the marking.

[0028] The method according to the invention may comprise the following: - converting the marking layer into a binary image for evaluating the size of the necrotic tissue such that the marked area of ​​the marking layer is converted into white pixels or into pixels with a first colour and the remaining area is converted into black pixels (or into pixels with a second colour); - Evaluation of the size of the necrotic tissue by counting the pixels with the first color. It is conceivable that a fixed proportion of the counted pixels with the first color are counted as necrotic tissue, since the remaining proportion can be neglected as an average excess of the marker.

[0029] As a further function in addition to the marking option, an undo function and / or a delete or reset function can be provided, which can be carried out by the person via the display device.

[0030] In the computer vision process, segmentation can usually be considered the first step in image analysis, which preferably occurs after image preprocessing. The sequence might be, for example, scene, image acquisition, image preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, classification, and interpretation.

[0031] The applicant reserves the right to make an independent claim to the wound marker.

[0032] According to the invention, a computer program according to claim 6 and / or a data processing system according to claim 7 and / or a computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8 is provided.

[0033] Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for wound analysis of a person's externally visible wound. The method uses a smartphone with a camera, a wound marker that can be applied to the person's skin, and an evaluation device. The method comprises the following steps: - Attaching the wound marker in such a way that the camera can capture a combined image of the wound marker and the wound; - capturing the image with the camera such that the captured image contains a combined image of the wound and the wound marker; and - Evaluating the image with the evaluation device, wherein the actual marker size of the wound marker is stored in the evaluation device or can be retrieved by it and wherein the evaluation device, based on the image of the wound marker, carries out a size comparison between the stored marker size and the marker size of the imaged wound marker in order to determine the actual size of the imaged wound. Short description of the drawings

[0034] Preferred embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to schematic drawings. They show: Fig. 1 a person with a wound and a wound marker, and Fig. 2 a flowchart of a method according to the invention. Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

[0035] Fig. 1 shows a person 1 or a patient with a wound 2 and a wound marker 4. The wound 2 is located on the lower leg of the person 1. The wound marker 4 is arranged adjacent to the wound 2 on the skin of the person 1. The wound marker 4 has a symbol in the form of an arrow. Based on the symbol, the person can align the wound marker 4 in a specific way, for example, in the direction of or parallel to the body axis or in an up-down direction. Furthermore, the arrow can be aligned towards the head or vertex of the person 1. Furthermore, the symbol is machine-readable and can be used for software analysis.

[0036] According to Fig. Figure 1 schematically shows a block-shaped image capture device 6 in the form of a smartphone. This device has a sensor in the form of a camera 8 for capturing a single image of the wound 2 together with the wound marker 4. Furthermore, the capture device 6 has and / or is connected to an evaluation device 10. Furthermore, a display device 12 is configured as a touch-sensitive screen.

[0037] According to Fig. 2 shows a method. In the first step 14, the wound marker 4 is Fig. 1 is applied adjacent to the wound 2 of person 1. The wound marker 4 is aligned towards the vertex of person 1. In the next step 16, a color image of person 1 is taken via camera 8. This image shows the entire wound 2 and the entire wound marker 4. In step 18, the image is evaluated via the evaluation device 10. The marker size of the wound marker 4 in the image is determined and compared with the actual marker size, which is stored in the evaluation device 10 or can be retrieved from it. A relationship can then be drawn between the size of the recorded wound 2 in the image and the actual size of the wound 2. This allows the size of the wound 2 to be measured in a simple manner.

[0038] In step 20 in Fig.2, a segmentation of the wound 2 and the wound marker 4 from the background of the image can be carried out via the evaluation device 10. In this way, for example, the orientation of the wound marker 4 and the wound 2 with respect to the body of the person 1 can be determined.

[0039] Based on the symbol, in particular after step 20, an orientation of the camera relative to the wound 2 and / or the wound marker 4 can be determined in a step 22. In step 22, the evaluation device 10 can rotate the image about a vertical and / or horizontal image axis such that the image has a predetermined target orientation. This allows multiple captured images to be easily compared with one another.

[0040] In step 24, the image of wound 2 can be displayed on display device 12. The evaluation device 10 places a transparent mask or a transparent marking layer over the image using software. Person 1 can mark the entire wound 2 using display device 12, with the mask including the marking. Based on the marked area, the evaluation device determines the size of any necrotic tissue in wound 2.

[0041] In other words, person 1 takes a picture of wound 2. This image is displayed on the display device 12 by software in the form of a touchscreen. Using the touchscreen, person 1 can mark areas of the image containing necrotic tissue. For this purpose, the software provides a marker, similar to a text marker. This has a preset, fixed size. Areas marked by person 1 are colored semi-transparently. The original displayed image remains unchanged. The marked area is inserted on another layer or mark layer over the original displayed image. In addition to marking, additional functions include an undo function and a reset function. After person 1 confirms that all necrotic areas have been marked, the image analysis begins. For this purpose, the colored layer marked by person 1 with the marked areas is converted into a binary image.The marked areas are converted to white pixels, and the rest to black pixels. The white pixels are then counted, and a fixed portion is designated as necrotic tissue, since the remaining portion is negligible as the average excess of the marking. List of reference symbols: 1 person 2 wound 4 wound markers 6 Recording device 8 Camera 10 Evaluation device 12 Display device 14 to 22 steps

Claims

[1] Computer-implemented method for wound analysis of an externally visible wound (2) of a person (1), comprising a mobile imaging device (6), a wound marker (4) and an evaluation unit (10), comprising: - Applying the wound marker (4) in such a way that a combined image of the wound marker (4) and the wound (2) can be recorded with the recording device (6); - Taking a picture with the recording device (6) such that the recorded image shows a joint image of the wound (2) and the wound marker (4); and - Evaluating the image with the evaluation unit (10), wherein the physical marker size of the wound marker (4) is stored in or retrievable from the evaluation unit (10), and wherein the evaluation unit (10) performs a size comparison between the stored marker size and the marker size of the depicted wound marker (4) based on the image of the wound marker (4) in order to determine the actual size of the depicted wound (2); and / or - Determination based on a code and / or symbol of the wound marker (4) an alignment of the recording device (6) with respect to the wound (2) and / or with respect to the wound marker (4); and / or - Displaying the image with the recorded wound (2) on a display device (12) of the recording device (6) and providing a marking device on the display device (12) for the person (1) such that areas of the image with necrotic tissue can be marked. [2] Computer-implemented method according to claim 1, comprising: - Rotating the image around a vertical and / or horizontal image axis from the evaluation device (10) based on the determined orientation such that the image has a predetermined target orientation. [3] Computer-implemented method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an image is captured, aligned and stored at different times. [4] Computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - Applying a marking layer over the image by the evaluation device (10), wherein the image remains unchanged during marking via the marking device and the marking layer contains the marking. [5] Computer-implemented method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - Converting the image or the marker layer into a binary image via the evaluation unit (10) such that the marked area of ​​the marker layer or the image is converted to white pixels and the remaining area to black pixels; and - Evaluating the size of the necrotic tissue by the evaluation device (10) by counting the white pixels. [6] Computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause it to execute the method according to one or more of the preceding claims. [7] Data processing system comprising means for carrying out the steps of the method according to one or more of claims 1 to 5. [8] Computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause it to perform the steps of the method according to one or more of claims 1 to 5.

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