JPS6053121A - Apparatus for detecting characteristics of skin surface shape - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention inspects the minute shape of the skin surface.

The present invention relates to a device for extracting feature information that serves as a scale index for determining skin properties and skin quality. Devices of this type are useful as aids in skin treatment, diagnosis, hygiene and even cosmetology.

The skin surface has a fine undulating pattern (skin pattern) formed by many thin grooves called dermal grooves, approximately rectangular hillocks called dermal mounds, and pores formed by the dermal grooves. The morphology of the skin reflects the metabolic and other physiological functions of the skin. Therefore, inspecting the fine shapes of the skin surface and accurately identifying its characteristics is essential for obtaining skin characteristics and skin quality indicators that are essential for treatment, diagnosis, beauty, etc. Very important.

Conventionally, various methods have been used to closely observe the surface shape of the skin. However, it is difficult to evaluate what kind of skin characteristics or skin quality the shape represents.
Judgment is made by the judge who, through the above-mentioned observation, deciphers the size and number of superior foramina, the density, thickness, radius and directionality of skin grooves, the size and shape of skin mounds (hereinafter referred to as skin pattern characteristics), etc. However, I had no choice but to synthesize those findings and conduct my research subjectively and empirically.

However, it is not that difficult to express the fine shape of the skin surface numerically. It has already been put into practical use to calculate appropriate numerical information representing the undulations of the skin surface by scanning with a stylus and processing a series of undulation image signals obtained with a combiator (for example, in ``Japan Cosmetic Technology (Refer to ``Journal of the Japan Society of Japan'' Volume #i13, No. 2, pp. 44-49). Although this method provides a detailed profile of the ups and downs, it is limited to seven global features that serve as indicators for determining skin quality. Information cannot be obtained directly by this method.

It was. The desired characteristic information is extracted by analyzing the information obtained by scanning a photograph of the skin surface with an appropriate photoelectric conversion means using a full-scale computer and a long and complex pattern processing program. It is not impossible to do so. However, such systems are large and expensive, take a long time to obtain results, and require considerable expertise to operate, making it difficult to place them and for what purpose they are used. Limited and impractical.

The present invention is small in size, low in cost, easy to operate, and easy to use.
A skin surface shape feature detection device that can quickly create objective evaluation indicators that are less dependent on the judge's experience.

The purpose is to provide.

The essential feature of the present invention is that it is configured to calculate the area of a portion within a brightness range determined by Wr for each of a plurality of images obtained by changing the irradiation conditions of a photographing light source. When the irradiation conditions change, the brightness pattern of the image of the skin surface changes depending on the surface shape characteristics (for example, skin pattern characteristics), so a simple process of calculating the area of the part within the predetermined brightness range can be used to obtain the desired result. The irradiation conditions for changing the irradiation direction include the direction of irradiation.

There are combinations of angle of depression, amount of light, number of light sources, etc., but the most effective method is to change the direction of irradiation.

Next, an example will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a skin surface shape feature detection device according to the present invention. In the figure, l represents the part of the skin to be examined or a replica thereof. 2□, 2. , 2. are illumination light sources, and their irradiation directions are 120° from each other.
The single light source is shifted around the object to be inspected.
It may be attached to a turret or the like so that it can be rotated at the same time, or the tyc and the object to be inspected may be rotated at the same time.

Furthermore, the light intensity and depression angle can also be adjusted.

Not only can optimal illumination conditions be selected according to the situation and environment of the object to be inspected, but they can also be used as variable parameters in image processing. Note that if the light is guided by an optical fiber, the light source itself can be provided at any position. 3 is light source 2 or 2. This is a switch that controls the lighting of the 1, and in this embodiment, it is automatically switched by a signal from an information processing device 7, which will be described later.
There is no problem even if it is operated manually. 4 is a magnifying optical system that uses a low-magnification microscope or a close-up lens to obtain an image with an appropriate magnification. Reference numeral 5 denotes a scanning conversion device that scans an optical image and generates an electrical signal whose amplitude changes according to the degree of brightness of each part of the image, and any image pickup device such as a vidicon camera or a CCD camera can be used. Note that if an image storage device is placed in the preceding stage, the restraint time of the subject can be shortened. 6 is an analog-to-digital converter.

In the simplest case, a simple threshold value circuit is sufficient, and in that case, it is preferable that the threshold value can be changed manually or by a signal from the information processing device 7. A sampling device is attached if necessary. A block 7 surrounded by a chain line indicates an information processing device, which includes a video memory 8. Arithmetic and logical operations unit 9. Working memory 1
0 and control unit) 11. The image memory 8 includes the light source 2. , 2. It is divided into regions M,, M,, M, corresponding to , z,. The arithmetic/logic operation unit 9 is substantially the same as the arithmetic unit of an ordinary combination processor, and selectively performs arithmetic and logical operations necessary for data processing under the control of the control unit 11. do. The working memory IO temporarily stores intermediate results and final results of operations. The control unit 11 is suitably a program-controlled type well known in the computer field, and supplies necessary control signals to each part of the control unit at required times. If necessary, a rounding memory for storing various control information, constants necessary for calculation, etc. may be provided separately. 12 to 14 indicate some examples of output devices;
is a CRT display [, 13 is a dot printer, and 14 is a floppy disk.Next, regarding the operation, the simplest case is that only the irradiation direction is changed, and 4! A case will be described in which processing is performed focusing only on whether the brightness of the r pixel is larger or smaller than a predetermined value. In this case, the analog-digital converter 6 is
As mentioned above, a simple threshold circuit is sufficient for VC. First, the video information input operation is started. The multi-light source 2 is turned on by the operation of the switch 3, and the skin or skin replica 1 is turned on.
The image is appropriately magnified by the magnifying optical system 4. A scanning/converting device 5 scans this image and generates an electrical signal whose amplitude changes in proportion to the brightness of each part. If the brightness of each pixel is below a predetermined value, this signal is converted to #1 by the analog-digital converter 6 configured as described above.
If it exceeds this value, it is converted into 1-bit binary information that takes the value aO#, and these 200 million information bits are then written to the location stamp assigned to each pixel in area M2 of the video memory 8. 0, a pattern of '1# and 10'' is stored in the area island as a mapping of bright and dark images on the skin surface. In other words, #O'' corresponds to the convex part because it wraps around the part that is exposed to light. .

“!” is a shaded part, so it corresponds to the fourth part. When the input of information for all pixels is completed, the control unit 11 generates a control signal and switches the switch 3 to turn off the light sources 2gk and turn on the light sources 2g and 9. Thereafter, in the same manner as above, light source 2
．． 1” corresponding to the contrast image of the skin surface when irradiated with
and 10'' patterns are stored in the area MY, and finally, in the same manner as described above, the pattern of ``1# and 0'' corresponding to the contrast image of the skin surface when irradiated with the light source 21 is stored in the area M.
It is stored in g.

Next, moving on to the analysis processing operation, first, the contents of area M are
Next, the arithmetic/logic operation unit 9 reads “l”
Count the number of pieces. This count value is based on the light source 2. This is the area of the part of the image that is irradiated with light and has a brightness of less than a predetermined value.In principle, this value may be used as is for subsequent processing, but in this example, for convenience, this value is It is divided by the number of pixels and the quotient is stored in a predetermined location (W) of the working memory 10. This value is the area ratio of the part of the image illuminated by the light source 21 whose brightness is less than a predetermined value (the 7'C part), so if you look at it from a different perspective, the light source 2. It is considered that it represents the proportion of the component in the direction perpendicular to the zero irradiation direction. This value will be referred to as the "m-direction occupancy rate."

Next, in the same manner as above, calculate the V direction occupancy rate,
The direction occupancy rate is then calculated and stored in the location VIN (-).

As a first-order process to create other indicators, the area M, .
The process of reading bits corresponding to the same pixel from each of M, , M, and adding 1 to the count value if at least one of them is #1'' is repeated for all pixels, The quotient obtained by dividing the final count value by the total number of pixels is set to another predetermined location in the working memory 10).
Store in. This value is.

Since it is the area ratio of the logical sum of the narrow portions in each irradiation direction, it is the net area ratio of all the recesses.

This is called the "net occupancy rate." Now that we have obtained the basic data that should be extracted directly from the video data, the next step is to process these basic data and derive various data that are convenient for use.For example, first, q! r
Obtain the ratio between the direction occupancies. tyc, the value obtained by subtracting the net occupancy rate from the sum of the occupancy rates in each direction is o'fc, which can be determined by the area ratio of the shaded part in common for at least two irradiation directions, and On the other hand, all shaded areas are counted twice. We will call this the "degree of commonality." Furthermore, it is also useful to calculate the standard deviation of the occupancy rates in each direction as a quantity representing the degree of uniformity or dissimilarity of the occupancy rates in each direction. Since the control procedure for calculating these numerical values is obvious to those skilled in the art, the detailed 1f
fl Light is omitted.

The video data and numerical data obtained as described above are stored in the memory 8 and the working memory 10.

An appropriate output device 1, for example, a CRT display device 1, if necessary.
2. Dot printer 13. Output to a floppy disk 14 or the like. If the CRT display device is a color display type, for example, the blue% My
By modulating the brightness signals of red b with the output from the Mg and green brightness signals with the output from the Mg, the shaded areas and their overlapping areas in different irradiation directions can be displayed in different colors, which is convenient.

Next, we will explain the relationship between the various data obtained in the above manner, the characteristics of the shape of the bare skin surface, and ultimately the properties of the skin, by comparing them with the measured values for several samples shown in the table below. .

Sample No. 1 has large pores and clear skin pattern, N1
2: Small pores, fine and clear skin pattern, N11
3: There are very few pores and the skin pattern has disappeared, N
l14 has almost no pores, and the skin pattern is flat and flows in one direction.
The occupancy rate in each direction of ll+I represents the component of the concave portion in the direction perpendicular to the irradiation direction of the beam. Therefore, the occupancy rates of both males and males are close to each other (the standard deviation is small).

Samples 1 and 3) indicate that the skin grooves run vertically and horizontally, and conversely, there is a large difference between samples 1 and 3 (the standard deviation is large).
This indicates that the skin grooves (skin patterns) flow in one direction (
Sample 8114). Although the net occupancy rate represents the total area of pores and skin grooves, the net occupancy rate can also be used as an indicator of the depth of one pore and skin groove. 1*The degree of commonality basically represents the square area of the shaded area when viewed from at least two directions, and in turn represents the width of the intersection of the four rounded pores and skin grooves, but the former It is thought that the latter is overwhelmingly larger than the latter, and as mentioned above, the portion that is in the shadow from all three directions is double counted, making it even stronger! i1, so the degree of commonality can be an indicator of the size of the pore. In other words, the larger this value, the larger the pores (sample magnet 1
), if it is small, it may be determined that the pores are small or, in extreme cases, the pores have disappeared (samples N13 and 4).

In addition to the above processing, the same processing as above is performed on each video data obtained by varying the threshold value of the analog-to-digital converter, and the results are taken into account.
More accurate and reasonable lf# micro-information layer information can be obtained, and the area ratio of a portion with intermediate brightness can be easily determined as a difference in area ratio at different threshold values. It goes without saying that a multi-bit, multi-level analog-to-digital converter may be used. In that case, the processing performed by changing the threshold value and the processing of the intermediate brightness portion may be performed by the information processing device R7.
Since the process can be carried out as an internal process, the required time can be shortened and the processing content can be more diverse and flexible. By using the Combi Gourd, there is no difficulty in creating special hardware, and by utilizing the diverse data processing capabilities of a computer, it is possible to perform even more complex and precise analysis and identification. Inputs from measuring instruments (skin surface electrical resistance, acidity, etc.) 1
It is also possible to input interview data, inspection data, etc., and directly output the final diagnosis by integrating them.In addition, when using a microcombination machine, etc., the output of the analog-to-digital converter can be edited. By 7 to form a transfer unit with a focus number equal to the computer's candy length.
It would be effective if additional means were added.

As mentioned above, the device of the present invention is the tJ\ type, low cost, easy to operate, and allows anyone to obtain objective index information in a short time, so it is suitable for small-scale clinics, It is suitable for easy use at stores such as pharmacies and cosmetic stores.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a Pronk diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. 1 is skin or skin replica; 2. ~2. is a light source for lighting,
3 is a switch, 4 is a magnifying optical system, 5 is a scanning conversion device,
6 is an analog-digital converter, 8 is a video data memory, 9 is an arithmetic operation unit, 10 is a working memory, 11 is a control unit, and 12 to 14 are output devices. Si p t

Claims (1)

[Claims] An illumination device for illuminating the surface of the skin or skin replica, means for changing at least one of the illumination conditions of the illumination device, and a group of objects illuminated by the illumination device to represent a contrast image of the surface of the skin or skin replica. a storage means for storing each group of said digital signals obtained under a plurality of different irradiation conditions in respective areas allocated to each irradiation condition; A skin surface shape feature detection device having an information processing device including arithmetic means for calculating the area of a portion within a predetermined brightness range in an image for each group of digital signals stored in each region.