Multi-Angle Shadow Imaging for Skin Lesion Irregularity Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current diagnostic devices for skin lesions, particularly melanoma, suffer from suboptimal clinical diagnostic specificity and selectivity, leading to inadequate early detection and a high rate of unnecessary biopsies, despite advancements in optical methods.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a radiation source to illuminate skin lesions from various angles, capturing Temporal Shadow Images (TSIs) to generate Lateral Motion of Backscattered Light (LMB), Shadow Gradient Pattern Image (SGPI), and Lateral Phase Flow Image (LPFI), depicting scattering surface and volume irregularities (SViR) to characterize and monitor changes over time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If optical methods are used for melanoma detection, then sensitivity improves, but diagnostic specificity and selectivity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from conventional 2D color imaging to 3D surface topography imaging by capturing shadow patterns from multiple illumination angles. This dimensional change enables visualization of surface irregularities (proliferation patterns) that are invisible in standard dermoscopy, thereby improving diagnostic specificity while maintaining sensitivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system varies the illumination angle parameter to generate multiple shadow images from different perspectives. By changing this physical parameter and computationally processing the variations, the system extracts three-dimensional surface information that provides more specific diagnostic criteria for distinguishing malignant from benign lesions
2Measurement precision
If multiple imaging parameters are used to improve detection accuracy, then diagnostic precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a single radiation source that can be positioned at multiple angles to perform both illumination and shadow-casting functions. The same imaging sensor captures all shadow patterns from different angles, eliminating the need for multiple specialized imaging devices while achieving three-dimensional surface characterization
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex mechanical three-dimensional scanning systems or multiple coordinated cameras, the patent replaces the mechanical complexity with a computational approach: a single camera captures multiple shadow images from different illumination angles, and software reconstructs the three-dimensional surface topography from these two-dimensional shadow patterns
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate characterization of skin lesions, facilitating early detection of malignancy and continuous monitoring of SViR changes, reducing the need for unnecessary biopsies and improving diagnostic accuracy.
Implementation Method 1
illuminate the scattering surface and/or volume portion from different states of illuminations
Implementation Method 2
each image will have different shadow for each state of illumination
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C
Figure 2
AI summary
The disclosure relates to systems, methods and programs for generating an image depicting the deformations of a surface and/or volume portion of a subject as a consequence of the surface's and/or volume's structural irregularities (SViR), as a function of density and/or changes in refraction index irregularities and less as a function of color. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a method of imaging a scattering surface and/or volume implementable in a system having a radiation source (RS) operable to illuminate the scattering surface and/or volume portion from different states of illuminations, such as, for example, angular position changes of RS's Poynting Vector (PV), and collect a plurality of images for each state of PV. Due to the effect generated by the altering PV, images experience lateral motion and lateral phase flow as a