Skin Dryness Detection Using Colorimetric Patch Image Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining skin dryness, such as using cobalt (II) chloride patches, are subjective and difficult to interpret, especially for mild symptoms, as the color change is not easily quantifiable.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a user-operable computer device with a camera and processor, along with a scorecard featuring color reference targets, to process images of a test patch and calculate a percentage value indicating skin dryness, thereby providing a more objective assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a cobalt (II) chloride patch is used to determine skin dryness, then the test is simple to apply and use, but the color change is subjective and difficult to interpret especially for mild symptoms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy of the test patch's color state by capturing an image of the patch on the scorecard. This image copy is then processed by a computer system to objectively quantify the color change, replacing the subjective human interpretation with an automated digital measurement that can detect mild changes accurately.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual visual assessment mechanism with an automated image processing system. The computer device captures, processes, and analyzes the color changes objectively, substituting human perception with computational analysis that provides precise, quantifiable measurements of skin dryness.
2Measurement precision
If the color change is made more subtle to detect mild symptoms, then the sensitivity increases, but the ease of subjective interpretation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the patch color state through image capture. This allows the system to detect subtle color changes that would be difficult for humans to perceive, while the automated processing of the digital image makes interpretation objective and easy, even for mild symptoms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary - the image processing system - between the subtle color change and the user's interpretation. This intermediary automatically detects and quantifies the color changes, bridging the gap between subtle visual changes and easy interpretation by converting them into objective digital data.
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
The system allows for a consistent and reliable determination of skin dryness, enabling users to track mild symptoms more accurately and potentially indicating underlying conditions such as diabetes.
Implementation Method 1
a moisture indicator which has a first colour in the dry anhydrous state, and which changes to a second colour at a certain moisture content
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for use in determining skin dryness by processing images of a test patch of the kind comprising a membrane impregnated with a moisture indicator which has a first colour in the dry anhydrous state, and which changes to a second colour at a certain moisture content which corresponds to normal skin moisture are disclosed. A user operable computer device having a camera, a processor, and an area of memory, a computer program stored in the memory of the user operable device, a scorecard having at least one colour reference target in which the computer program causes the user operable computer device to process an image of the scorecard with a test patch placed on it after the test patch has been applied to an area of skin, the processing determining a dryness of the area of the skin.