Digital Skin Color Correction via Reference Chip Averaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing skin color measurement techniques, such as the ChromaMeter, face variability issues due to physical contact with the skin, leading to inaccurate measurements and increased variability, especially when measuring larger skin areas or across multiple measurements, which can result in scattered color data not suitable for clinical reports.
Innovation Solution
A digital color correction system that uses a digital camera to capture images of skin and color chips, averaging skin and chip color measurements to calculate composite factors, allowing for color correction of digital photographs by generating correction factors based on target skin color and chip values, thereby reconstructing accurate skin color without physical contact and reducing measurement variability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a ChromaMeter is used to measure skin color in vivo, then the measurement can be obtained, but the physical contact causes variability and inaccuracy due to skin compression and blood flow changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses digital photographs as copies of skin color information instead of direct physical measurement. The photograph captures the skin color appearance, and color correction algorithms reconstruct the accurate color values without requiring physical contact with the skin, thereby eliminating the compression and blood flow changes that cause measurement variability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces color correction algorithms and reference color charts as intermediaries between the digital photograph and the actual skin color measurement. These intermediaries process the photograph data to compensate for lighting conditions and reconstruct accurate color values, serving as a bridge that eliminates the need for direct physical measurement
2Area of stationary object
If multiple measurements are taken to measure larger skin areas, then the coverage area increases, but the variability and time required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a single digital photograph that captures the entire skin area of interest as a copy of the color information. This single image replaces multiple sequential measurements, providing complete coverage of the skin area while maintaining measurement consistency through digital image processing rather than repeated physical contact
3Ease of operation
If a digital camera is used to capture skin color, then non-contact measurement is achieved, but color accuracy is affected by lighting conditions and camera characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates reference color charts with known color values in the photograph alongside the skin area. These reference colors provide feedback about the lighting conditions and camera characteristics during capture. The color correction algorithm uses this feedback to calculate correction factors that compensate for lighting and camera effects, restoring accurate color measurement while maintaining non-contact operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the raw digital image parameters (RGB values) through a series of mathematical transformations and corrections based on measured lighting conditions. By changing the parameter representation from direct camera output to corrected color space values, the system maintains the ease of non-contact digital capture while achieving measurement precision comparable to contact methods
Data Source
AI summary
A process for measuring skin color parameters from a digital photograph using novel color correction algorithms is described. The process includes measuring color values of a digital color photo, correcting the color deviation of each picture to that of a standard color, and converting the corrected RGB values and generating an output that is useful to L*a*b* values to describe changes in the color properties of the photographed skin.