KR101047902B1 - Skin condition measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a first imaging unit which performs imaging while applying a first light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of a tissue (measurement tissue) in the skin to be measured, and another tissue (similar tissue) that partially absorbs the first light source A second imaging unit which performs imaging while applying a second light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of an image, an image synthesizing unit synthesizing the images captured by the first and second imaging units, and outputs the synthesized image By including an image output unit, by synthesizing the same skin tissue image captured through the two imaging unit, it is possible to accurately extract the tissue of the skin to be measured.

Imaging, synthesis, imaging, skin, tissue, freckles, spots

Description

Apparatus for measuring skin condition

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring skin condition, and more particularly, to an apparatus capable of accurately measuring the condition of skin such as freckles and blood cell deposition formed on the skin.

Pigmentation is caused by various causes in the human body. Among them, pigmentation by melanin and pigmentation by blood cells are most representative. Enzymes such as tyrosinase exist in melanocytes in the human body, and they work together to produce a dark brown pigment called melanin by polymerizing and oxidizing the amino acid tyrosine which is always present in the living body. This melanin pigment is widely distributed to the surrounding keratinocytes through the dendrite of melanocytes to determine the color of the skin. The melanin production in melanocytes is abnormally activated, resulting in excessive production of melanin. And when deposited, skin pigmentation abnormalities such as blemishes, freckles, and senile plaques occur.

The melanin pigment is synthesized by external stimuli such as ultraviolet rays. The increase in melanin pigment caused by ultraviolet rays includes arachidonic acid metabolites such as prostaglandins and melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). It is known to be involved.

Deposition by blood cells remains on the skin due to immobilization of blood exposure by trauma or bruises. Most of the blood is destroyed and destroyed in the body, but some of the blood is solidified as it is, indicating pigmentation on the skin.

 Conventional observation of skin pigmentation is performed by a method of visually confirming the pigmentation part of the skin by irradiating light of wood to the subject's skin in the dark room, or by visual observation on general illumination, The degree of distribution was confirmed.

 Blood cell and vascular therapy lasers, which are currently used for medical purposes, treat pigmentation by dividing the dermis and epidermis. The pigment in the epidermis is treated using the 532nm wavelength emitted by the Nd: Yag laser, and the pigment in the dermis is treated using the 1064nm wavelength, and in the case of bruising or blood cell deposition by blood cells, it is removed using the 1064nm wavelength. In the case of blood vessels, 634 nm He-Ne laser is used to treat only the areas observed with the naked eye.

 Recently, various techniques have been developed to improve the skin diagnosis technology, which has been confirmed only by the eyes of medical staff. Dr. Hidemi Akai released the Robo Skin Analyzer in 2004 to digitally analyze the condition of skin using visible light. It uses white visible light as a light source and simply shows the change of spots and wrinkles by simply using the image of the skin, but the pigmentation by blood vessel distribution or melanin and blood cells under the skin that can be effective during the actual treatment. The purpose of the device is different from the device. In addition, UV scanning technology converts normal visible light images similar to when taken in the ultraviolet region. It is simply a program that analyzes through image processing. There is a great deal of difficulty in accurately classifying lesions such as actual pigmentation, and it is impossible to realize real-time images, and it is impossible to represent the distribution of blood vessels by using near-infrared images.

In summary, different procedures are required for treatment depending on skin conditions such as pigmentation and hemocytosis, which requires prior examination of pigmentation or hemocytosis and the depth of pigmentation. However, it is currently impossible to measure skin condition accurately. For example, when the freckles are to be examined, it is difficult to distinguish them from blemishes of different depths or other causes of blood cell deposition, and incorrect procedures are performed accordingly.

For example, the wavelength of the laser to treat freckles and the wavelength of the laser to treat blemishes are difficult to determine whether it is freckles or blemishes in the measurement. Therefore, the treatment is performed with a laser of the same wavelength in both of them. As for the other phenomenon, the treatment is performed by using a laser having a different wavelength.

However, such a reversal of the treatment is a burden on the user as it is, there is a need for a diagnostic apparatus and method capable of accurately extracting an object to be measured by increasing the accuracy of preliminary measurement for treatment.

In addition, when the measurement of the skin condition is dependent only on the pre-measurement, the surgeon, such as a doctor must perform the procedure while matching the pre-measurement result and the patient's condition every time, so that the measurement result of the skin condition is confirmed in real time, There is also a demand for a plan for convenience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to improve the above problems, and to provide a skin condition measuring apparatus capable of accurately and accurately measuring blood cell deposition and the condition of the back skin of blood vessels in real time.

As a result, it is another object of the present invention to allow the operator to recognize his / her own skin condition and to help the operator.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a first imaging unit for performing imaging while applying a first light source corresponding to the absorption wavelength of the tissue (measurement tissue) in the skin to be measured; A second imaging unit which performs imaging while applying a second light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of another tissue (similar tissue) that partially absorbs the first light source; An image synthesizing unit configured to synthesize images captured by the first and second imaging units; And an image output unit configured to output the synthesized image.

The image synthesizing unit may include an alignment unit for aligning the images captured by the first and second imaging units, and the first light source and the second light source include a light diffusion unit for injecting light evenly. It is desirable to.

The apparatus may further include a third imaging unit configured to perform imaging while a white light source is applied, and the image captured by the third imaging unit may be separated from the synthesized image through the image output unit without passing through the image synthesis unit. It is desirable to be displayed.

Preferably, the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit further include a polarization filter.

As described above, the skin condition measuring apparatus according to the present invention by applying a wavelength absorbed by the tissue of the skin to be measured and a wavelength different from the absorption wavelength, and then synthesized and displayed, the tissue to be measured in the skin Can be measured accurately.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a skin condition measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As described above, the skin condition measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment may include the first imaging unit 10 and the first imaging unit configured to perform imaging while applying a first light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of the skin tissue (measurement tissue) to be measured. 2nd imaging part 20 which performs imaging in the state which applied the 2nd light source corresponding to the absorption wavelength of the other structure (similar tissue) which absorbs 1 light source partially, The imaging by the said 1st imaging part and the 2nd imaging part And an image output unit 40 for outputting the synthesized image.

The first imaging unit 10 performs imaging in a state in which a first light source corresponding to a wavelength absorbed by a tissue to be measured on the skin is applied, which is partially the same as a conventional skin condition measuring technique.

For example, in order to treat freckles, the position of the freckles should be measured in advance in the skin. In this case, the method of visually measuring the naked eye or performing the imaging while applying a light source of the wavelength absorbed by the freckles Was used. The latter case is partly the same as the function of the said 1st imaging part among these.

In the case of freckles, it is generally located near the surface of the skin, and imaging is performed by applying a light source having a short wavelength of 360 to 400 nm, and the result is indicated by a red dot.

Therefore, it is common to diagnose that the location marked in red in the captured image is freckles and to perform the procedure accordingly, but the results are not exactly the same as mentioned above. That is, most of the imaging results in the state in which the light source of the short wavelength is applied, most of the freckles, but some may be freckles rather than freckles. Nevertheless, there is no conventional method for confirming the treatment of freckles at all positions indicated in red. In this case, the blemishes of different treatment methods will remain, so the practitioner has taken an inefficient way of looking at the result of the treatment later and confirming that the untreated part is caused by a cause other than freckles. have.

This approach is inconvenient for both the subject and the operator, and it is clear that it can act as a distrust in treatment.

In order to solve such a problem, the inventor of the present invention devised a skin condition measuring apparatus further comprising a second imaging unit in addition to the first imaging unit.

The second imaging unit 20 performs imaging while applying a second light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of another tissue (similar tissue) that partially absorbs the first light source.

For example, in the case of freckles having the same structure as the freckles and differing only in the location depth, a part of the freckles may appear in the first captured image through the first imaging unit when the freckles are captured through the first imaging unit 10. . Therefore, the second imaging unit 20 performs imaging in a state where a light source having a long wavelength (740 to 800 nm), which is an absorption wavelength of blemishes corresponding to the similar structure, is applied. The absorption wavelength of the blemish results in blue.

When the first and second captured images obtained through the first imaging unit 10 and the second imaging unit 20 are synthesized through the image synthesizing unit 30 as shown in FIG. 2, overlapping portions are overlapped. The areas that are not visible will be different. The overlapped portions of the first captured image and the second captured image are displayed in purple by synthesis, and the portions not overlapped are displayed in red or blue. Here, the part displayed in purple corresponds to the confirmed spot, and the part displayed in red corresponds to the actually identified freckles. In comparison, the freckles of the image picked up by the first imager are expected freckles, not correctly identified freckles, and the signs of the image picked up by the second imager are likewise anticipated.

The question to consider here is how to deal with the measurement of cases where the boundary between freckles and blemishes is ambiguous.

In this case, unlike the complete freckles, the color of the synthesized image will be different from that of purple, and the data on this can be summarized and provided to the operator or the subject to experience the choice of freckles or blemishes by experience. However, in such a case, there is a possibility that an error may occur in the process of alternately checking the synthesis screen and the subject's face during the treatment of freckles. Therefore, the display color of the tissue to be examined, the color, brightness, and saturation of the synthesis It would be preferable to have a database and clearly display the case where the reference value is satisfied and the case where the reference value is not satisfied. In this case, not only the synthesis result can be displayed in purple, but also only the tissue to be measured can be clearly displayed in black, and the rest is not displayed, so as to facilitate the operator's convenience. Selection is preferably made available to the operator through the options.

For reference, the wavelengths of the main measurement target (measurement tissue) and the corresponding light source are shown in Table 1.

Key measurement objectives Application area Main wavelength (nm) Commercialized light source Oxygen Saturated Blood Skin inflammation 488, 632 632 Oxygen-unsaturated blood blood vessel 680, 740 - Blood and skin necrosis Skin necrosis 488, 365 488 Melanin pigment
(Freckles, spots, etc.) Pigmentation 365 - Calm blood Pigmentation 365, 740 740

Looking at it, since there are many commercially available light sources corresponding to the main wavelength, it is necessary to solve the problem of securing a light source for this, but the description thereof will be omitted. However, in order to prevent the color of the measurement target from being changed when the light source is applied, it is necessary to apply the light source evenly to the measurement target, and includes a light diffusion unit for injecting light evenly into the first and second light sources. It is preferable. In general, the light diffusion portion has a spherical or hemispherical shape.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the first imaging unit 10 and the second imaging unit 20 respectively provide a light source 21 and a light source 21 for generating and outputting light having a wavelength absorbed by a tissue to be measured. And an image capturing unit 23 for capturing the skin receiving the light output by the light source, and a control unit 25 controlling the light source and the image capturing unit. In the above embodiment, the first imager and the second imager and the first light source and the second light source, which are components thereof, are configured as separate elements, but may be integrally formed entirely or partially integrally.

Specifically, when the light source 21 has a structure capable of changing wavelengths, the light source 21 can be used as a light source for both the first and second imaging units, and the imaging unit 23 also includes elements such as an image sensor. Since both may be configured in the same manner, it is possible to apply to both the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit as one imaging unit 23. Of course, the control unit 25 can also be integrated. However, since the gist of the present embodiment is synthesized by performing two imaging operations on the same skin position through the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit, it is necessary to solve the problem related to the real-time processing first.

In case of solely for diagnostic purposes, whether or not real-time processing is not a big problem, so even if the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit are integrally formed, there is no problem. If the processing is required, the application of the double exposure technique to the imaging unit should be considered.

On the other hand, since the image synthesizing unit 30 needs to accurately synthesize the first captured image captured by the first image capture unit and the second captured image captured by the second image capture unit, the image may be aligned. It is preferable to further include an alignment unit for. In general, since the time difference between the first imaging and the second imaging can be adjusted very small, there is no big problem, but an alignment mark is directly added to the skin to the skin region where a change may occur even at a very small parallax depending on the measurement angle. You may. However, in this case, it may cause discomfort of the subject. Therefore, it may be desirable to find a common point in the captured first captured image and the second captured image so that the image synthesizing unit performs alignment automatically.

For example, when the positions of the first captured image and the second captured image of FIG. 2 are different from each other, the algorithm calculates distance points and the like of each point to act as an alignment mark on the coincident points (identified freckles in FIG. 2). Alignment may be possible by adding.

For reference, in case the real-time procedure is excluded, alignment may be performed by matching the points where the measurer directly matches.

An image synthesized through the image synthesizing unit 30 is displayed to the outside through the image output unit 40, and a display generally corresponds to this. The display by the image output unit is preferably made in real time at the same time as the measurement to enable immediate confirmation for the convenience of the procedure. Through this, the operator can directly perform the procedure while viewing the measurement screen.

The image captured by the first and second imaging units as described above is different from the skin that a human sees through vision. Therefore, it is preferable to further include a third imaging unit which performs imaging while a white light source is applied so that the screen of the skin seen through human vision, the images captured by the first and second imaging units, and the synthesized image can be compared. Do. The third imaging unit measures the skin to which the white light source is applied to provide an image as seen by the human eye. Note that the image obtained through the third imaging unit should not be combined with the first captured image or the second captured image through the image combining unit.

That is, the image picked up by the third imaging unit should be displayed separately from the synthesized image through the image output unit without passing through the image synthesizing unit.

Of course, the image output unit should be capable of multiple screens or picture in picture (PIP).

4 shows an image of a predetermined skin, wherein an image on the left is an image captured by the third imaging unit, and an image on the right is an image captured by the first and second imaging units.

Looking at the image on the left, it can be seen that a lot of scars (white portions) remain after the wound, and these portions are displayed in red in the images on the right side photographed through the first and second imaging units. The scar in Figure 4 is a new tissue due to the wound, it means a new flesh that has not been discolored by the external environment, such as sunlight, the concentration of elastin and collagen significantly increased than the surrounding skin to form a dense tissue, There is also little pigment | dye substance.

The image on the right side does not synthesize an image captured through the first and second imaging units, but indicates that the state of the skin may be displayed in color in the image captured through the first or second imaging unit. If the image is captured by the first imaging unit, it corresponds to the absorption wavelength of the skin tissue which may be displayed at the time of imaging while applying a light source corresponding to the absorption wavelength of the wound, similar to the absorption wavelength of the wound. When the light source is applied again and the image is picked up through the second image pickup unit, the image is synthesized with the image captured by the first image pickup unit, so that an accurate wound portion can be derived.

For reference, the red part of the lower portion of the wound is caused by the diffuse reflection, and can be solved by including the polarization filter in the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit. Of course, it would be desirable to further include a polarization filter on the light source side.

Although the technical spirit of the present invention has been described in detail according to the above-described preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the above-described embodiment is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that various embodiments are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

It is possible to apply when the condition of the skin is to be measured, in particular, it would be advantageous to apply to the beauty, medical field.

1 is a block diagram showing a skin condition measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating image synthesis using the skin condition measuring apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the imaging unit in FIG. 1;

4 is a schematic diagram showing an actual skin condition and a measurement image.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10 ... first imaging unit 20 ... second imaging unit

30.Video synthesizer 40 ... Video output

Claims (5)

A first imaging unit configured to perform imaging while applying a first light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of tissue (measurement tissue) in the skin to be measured; A second imaging unit which performs imaging while applying a second light source corresponding to an absorption wavelength of another tissue (similar tissue) that partially absorbs the first light source; An image synthesizing unit configured to synthesize images captured by the first and second imaging units; And And an image output unit configured to output the synthesized image. The image synthesizing unit includes an alignment unit for aligning images captured by the first and second imaging units. delete The method according to claim 1, The first light source and the second light source comprises a light diffusion unit for injecting light evenly. The method according to claim 1, And a third imaging unit which performs imaging while a white light source is applied, And an image captured by the third imaging unit is displayed separately from the synthesized image through the image output unit without passing through the image synthesizing unit. The method according to claim 1, The first image pickup unit and the second image pickup unit further comprises a polarization filter.

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