KR20170037737A - A Skin Camera and its Module for Diagnosis - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an acne diagnosis apparatus for analyzing information about a part of the skin to be predicted to have acne by emitting light to the skin to photograph the skin and analyzing the photographed image. The diagnosis apparatus comprises: a photographing module having a housing of which front end part is in contact with the skin, a substrate installed in the housing, and an LED mounted on the substrate and emitting light of a first wavelength band toward the skin being in contact with the front end part; and a fixing module having a base fixed to a mobile terminal, and a first attachment unit detachably coupled with the photographing module.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a skin-

The present invention relates to a skin photographing apparatus, and more particularly, to a skin photographing apparatus which irradiates light of a first wavelength band to a skin and then photographs the skin where light of the second wavelength band fluoresces, A photographing module and a device therefor.

According to the current life expectancy, diagnosis and management of health condition is one of the essential items. Skin is a component of the human body facing the external environment, containing a variety of metabolites and constituents, and is sometimes an indicator of health status. As a specific example, when blood color is poor, blood circulation disorder or digestive disorder may be suspected. As another example, if a skin problem occurs, mental stress may be suspected.

In the past, such diagnosis of the skin condition has generally been made through a visual or tactile method. Specifically, the good and bad skin elasticity can be visually discriminated through an optical microscope, and the skin water content of the skin can be discriminated by a tactile sense. However, this method of discrimination is not highly accurate and highly dependent on the subject's experience of discrimination.

On the other hand, skin monitoring for diagnosis of health condition needs to be continuously performed. Accordingly, there is a demand for a skin condition diagnosis apparatus and method that can perform monitoring and diagnosis more easily without causing discomfort to the person to be diagnosed.

Recently, attempts have been made to examine the condition of the skin by irradiating light to the skin, taking the light, and analyzing the optical information. However, there is no established method for investigating what kind of light is to be detected, what kind of light should be detected, and how to analyze the detected light information, and there is a need for urgent development of a skin diagnosis method and apparatus using such a principle do.

In addition, in order to diagnose the skin through skin photographing, it is necessary to irradiate the light of the wavelength band necessary for the diagnosis of the skin, and the light of the other wavelength band to the skin. In addition, even when photographing the skin, when light other than the light coming back through the skin passes through the skin, the photographed image can not contain information about the skin, making diagnosis difficult. In order to solve such a problem, one or more filters for selectively passing light by selectively passing the light through the wavelength range or by selectively passing the light by the polarization direction are provided in front of the light source, and light is selectively passed through the front of the photographing camera Or one or more filters for selectively passing the light by the polarization direction, which leads to an increase in the price of the equipment and causes the volume of the equipment to increase.

Most of the devices for diagnosing the skin by irradiating and photographing the light are made of expensive equipment, which is quite bulky, and thus they are mainly used in specialist treatment such as a skin care shop or a dermatology hospital. Therefore, it is not too troublesome for people who need daily skin care to visit such equipment.

Acne, for example, is a skin disease that requires constant management. Busy students and modern people can not afford to go to a dermatology clinic every day, and the cost is too high. In addition, acne has already been treated in the direction of treatment after inflammation has already occurred, and there is no special measure for prevention. Therefore, people with good acne will continue to eat acne prevention drugs. If you continue to take acne prevention drugs, regardless of the cost of various side effects, long-term effects of health can not be ignored. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that can easily diagnose a skin location that is likely to cause acne in a non-contact manner, even in a hospital or a specialized skin care shop.

In addition, since the conventional skin diagnosis devices described above must be diagnosed using different principles for each skin disease to be diagnosed, it is necessary to provide equipment for each disease to be diagnosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a photographing module and an apparatus for skin diagnosis which can easily replace necessary parts according to skin diseases to be diagnosed.

 It is another object of the present invention to provide a photographing module and apparatus for skin diagnosis that enables such diagnosis to be made at home even without anyone having any difficulty.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a surgical instrument comprising: a housing having a distal end portion in contact with skin; A substrate disposed within the housing; And an LED mounted on the substrate and configured to irradiate light of a first wavelength band toward the skin contacted with the tip,

A base fixed to the portable terminal; And a first detachable portion detachably coupled to the photographing module,

The present invention provides a skin diagnosis apparatus including the skin diagnosis apparatus.

The photographing module may further include a lens installed in the housing and positioned in a path along which the light emitted from the skin is incident on the image sensor and adapted to adjust the focal distance of the skin that contacts the distal end of the housing with the image sensor.

Wherein the photographing module is disposed in the housing and is located in a path where light emitted from the skin is incident on the image sensor to block light of a first wavelength band emitted from the LED and to detect light of a wavelength longer than the light of the first wavelength band And a long-pass filter for transmitting the light of the second wavelength band.

The lens may have a function of blocking a light of a first wavelength band emitted from the LED and transmitting a light of a second wavelength band longer than the light of the first wavelength band.

The lens may be made of PMMA and mixed with a pigment that absorbs light of the first wavelength band.

The substrate is provided with a hole, the hole is disposed in a longitudinal center axis of the housing in the housing, the LED is mounted around the hole and is radially equidistant with respect to the longitudinal center axis of the housing .

A hole is formed in the substrate, the hole being disposed in a longitudinal center axis of the housing in the housing, the lens being disposed closer to the image sensor than the substrate, the center of which is located in the longitudinal center of the housing Axis.

A hole is formed in the substrate and the hole is disposed in a longitudinal center axis of the housing in the housing, and the long pass filter can be disposed closer to the image sensor than the substrate.

A hole is formed in the substrate and the hole is disposed in a longitudinal center axis of the housing in the housing, the housing having a large diameter portion in which the tip portion is in contact with the skin; A small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion; And an annular step portion connecting the large diameter portion and the opposite end portion of the small diameter portion, wherein the substrate is accommodated in the large diameter portion and can be installed side by side with respect to the step portion.

The housing may be provided at its proximal end with a second attaching / detaching / attaching /

The first detachable portion and the second detachable portion may be fastened with a female screw in a male threaded manner.

The first detachable portion and the second detachable portion may be two magnets acting as attraction forces.

The first attachment / detachment means and the second attachment / detachment means may be a fitting portion to which the mutually opposed portions are fitted.

The first detachable portion is detachably fixed to the base, and the first detachable portion may include a detachable portion detachably coupled to the photographing module, and a base fixing portion detachably fixed to the base .

The base may be a case of the portable terminal.

Wherein the base is a case of the portable terminal, the case is formed with a through hole so as to be aligned with the optical lens and the image sensor portion of the portable terminal, the first detachable portion is inserted into the through hole from the back surface of the case, And can have a larger diameter than the through-hole of the case.

The photographing module may further include a battery accommodated in the housing, charged by being supplied with power from the outside, and discharged to supply power to the LED.

The substrate may be provided with a switch for controlling ON / OFF of the photographing module.

The substrate may be provided with a module for short-range wireless communication with the portable terminal.

The skin diagnostic apparatus may further include a portable terminal fixed to the base, and the image sensor of the portable terminal may include a blue light sensing element, a green light sensing element, and a red light sensing element.

The skin diagnosis apparatus may further include a portable terminal fixed to the base, and the portable terminal may be provided with a program for controlling the diagnostic module and processing an image photographed by the image sensor.

The program may generate a signal to inform the user of the fact that the skin condition is abnormal as a result of the image processing.

The program may display the photographed image on the display of the portable terminal.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily replace only the imaging module without using the diagnostic equipment for each skin disease to be diagnosed.

In addition, according to the present invention, by combining a small-sized photographing module and a personal portable terminal that can be easily replaced according to the use, it is not required to occupy a large volume and can be used at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to diagnose a skin disease by oneself at home with a simple constitution alone.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

Figure 1 shows the absorption spectrum of coproporphyrin 3.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of acne diagnosis method as an example of a skin diagnosis method according to the present invention.
3 is a view showing various optical paths that occur after the light irradiated to the skin reaches the skin.
4 is a diagram showing the sensitivity spectrum of the R, G, and B sensors provided in the CCD.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the spectrum of light emitted from the skin and the spectrum after filtering by the filter.
6 is a view showing a photographed image displayed after passing through a skin acne diagnosis method.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a skin diagnosis apparatus to which the skin diagnosis method according to the present invention is applicable. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a side view and a front view of the skin diagnosis apparatus of FIG. 7; FIG.
9 is a perspective view of a fixing module constituting the skin diagnosis apparatus of FIG.
10 is a perspective view of a photographing module constituting the skin diagnosis apparatus of FIG.
11 is a side sectional view of the photographing module of Fig.
FIGS. 12 to 15 are views showing one embodiment of detachment methods of the fixing module of FIG. 9 and the photographing module of FIG. 10;
16 is a side sectional view of the skin diagnosis apparatus fastened in the manner shown in FIG.

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

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, It is provided to inform.

There are various light absorbing compounds in the human body, which is also the case for skin. The term "chromophore" refers to a substance that mainly absorbs a specific wavelength in the spectrum of light. The wavelength of light absorbing compounds differs from one kind to another. All biomaterials exhibit a high absorption rate in at least one wavelength region within the wavelength range of light, and this is related to the physical properties of the atoms or molecules of the substance, so that the physicochemical properties of these atoms or molecules The wavelengths of the light absorbed more than once are different from each other.

For example, in the case of coproporphyrin 3, one of the porphyrins produced in the skin by the causative bacteria of acne vulgaris (Propionibacterium acne; P. acne), as shown in Fig. 1, Lt; / RTI >

On the other hand, fluorescence (Autofluorescence) refers to a phenomenon in which a specific substance absorbs light of a certain wavelength band to which a specific substance reacts and emits light of a specific wavelength band having a longer wavelength. This allows medical information to be distinguished from each other. There are many specific substances that fluoresce in the skin. Therefore, by analyzing the fluorescence of the skin, it becomes possible to grasp how and where the substance is distributed, and also the state of the skin.

For example, when light of the blue light band (400-440 nm) is applied to the skin, Porphrins produced by P. acne among the substances in the skin strongly absorb the energy of light in the blue wavelength band, Thereby fluorescing light of a specific wavelength band. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that the hair follicle without sebaceous gland fluoresces light between 520 nm and 600 ~ 630 nm, and fluorescence of a wavelength band around 520 nm is observed in the hair follicle where acne, . Therefore, it is possible to confirm the position, distribution, size, etc. of a part where simple sebum is gathered or a possible part of acne when the fluorescent image of the skin is obtained after irradiating blue light of about 407 nm.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the acne diagnosis method as an example of a skin diagnosis method performed by the photographing apparatus for skin diagnosis according to the present invention.

Referring to step S100, first, the skin to be diagnosed is irradiated with light. As described above, the light irradiated to the skin irradiates the blue light of the first wavelength band having the peak wavelength at 407 nm. In particular, since a half-width of a light-emitting diode (LED) is narrow and a peak wavelength can be adjusted to a desired level, blue light emitted from a light-emitting diode has a peak wavelength at 407 nm and a half width is concentrated close to the peak wavelength. Porphyrins can absorb a considerable amount of energy from such blue light. This is true for other wavelengths as well as 407nm, which is used to diagnose acne.

3 is a view showing various optical paths that occur after the light irradiated to the skin reaches the skin. When blue light is irradiated to the skin S, some of the blue light L1 reaching the skin is immediately reflected (L2) on the skin surface and some penetrates to some extent into the skin (L3). The blue light that penetrates into the skin is refracted, absorbed and scattered from the inside, and is scattered out of the skin again (L4).

Referring again to step S110 of FIG. 2, the skin irradiated with blue light is photographed to obtain the image. However, as shown in FIG. 3, most of the blue light irradiated to the skin is reflected from the skin surface (L2), and the intensity thereof is significant. Therefore, when the skin is photographed without any treatment, the reflected light L2 directly exceeds the sensitivity of the R, G, and B sensors of the CCD, which senses the light, resulting in whitening. Referring to FIG. 4 showing the sensitivity spectrum of the R, G and B sensors installed in the CCD, a device for sensing green or red also responds to light in the blue region. When the reflected light is strong, It reacts with the maximum value and the whitening phenomenon occurs. After penetrating the skin, it is absorbed by a predetermined substance in the skin and then fluoresced or diffused again or scattered. Therefore, in step S110, only the light of the longer wavelength band can be passed except for the reflected light region, Of the skin area.

5, when the intensity of the light in the blue wavelength range is excessively high (see " Spectrum Obtained from the Skin After Light Irradiation "in FIG. 5), the R, G and B sensors sense and react to it, The light in the spectral range can not be properly detected. Therefore, when the skin is photographed, the skin is not directly photographed by a sensor such as a CCD, and a filter capable of cut-off the blue light spectrum region is provided in the optical path for photographing, (See "spectrum after passing through the filter" in Fig. 5).

Referring back to FIG. 2, RGB values are extracted for each pixel of the photographed image (step S120).

Then, it is checked whether the RGB value of the corresponding pixel is within the range in which the inflammatory property caused by porphyrin generated by P. acne is reflected through the image process using the extracted R value, G value, and B value (step S130). For example, the image process can be performed in such a manner that the RGB values of the corresponding pixels are numerically expressed by a predetermined expression f (R, G, B), and the thus-quantified value exceeds a threshold value.

At this time, if the RGB value of the pixel is within the range reflecting the irritation caused by the acne causing bacteria, P. acne, an image process is performed to confirm that the area of the pixel within the range is larger than the reference area (step S140) .

If the area of the pixel having the RGB value reflecting the P. acne characteristic is larger than the reference area, the corresponding area is recognized as a part where acne may occur or occur (step S150). This process is intended to exclude some pixels from accidentally judging the skin condition when a certain pixel has a value exceeding a threshold value in the image processing process due to the noise generated in the image sensor at the time of photographing. According to the acne diagnosis method of the present invention, the size, the number, and the position information of the acne are dataized while recognizing the acne.

After the diagnosis of acne is finished, the photographed image is displayed on a display means, and a circle or an arrow mark is displayed on the part where the acne is present to provide convenience for the user to easily confirm. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the photographed image is displayed in a dotted line so that the portion determined to be acne can be easily identified, the position can be easily confirmed.

In the present invention, rather than merely displaying the data, the size and the number of acne are recognized and data is recognized as described above. Therefore, when the number of acne per unit area exceeds a predetermined number based on such data, An alarm can be given to the user to inform them that skin cleansing or skin care is required.

In addition to visual confirmation of the location where acne will occur, the display also provides information on skin care and prescription of medicines through various messages.

Previously, the skin acne diagnosis method described as an example of skin diagnosis can be diagnosed through a fairly simple process, but a certain premise is required to enable diagnosis by such a simple process.

First, when the skin is irradiated with light for skin photographing, the light of the first wavelength band described above, that is, the light other than the light emitted from the LED that emits the blue light of about 407 nm, is not irradiated to the skin. If the above-mentioned photographing is performed in a space in which natural light is brightly illuminated, since the light irradiated to the skin already has a wide spectrum, it is difficult to detect fluorescence phenomenon simply by the simple process as described above. have.

Second, in order to accurately grasp the number of acne per unit area, which is a condition occurring in the skin or a skin area to be generated, it is preferable that the scale of the image of the skin taken by the CCD is all the same. Of course, you can make use of a variety of other metrics to adjust the image to your desired scale, but for this image processing, new processes need to be added. Also, if there is no guarantee that image processing is always done correctly, it can also be a cause of misdiagnosis.

Third, the spectrum of the sensitivity of R, G, B sensor of CCD should be grasped. The acne diagnosis method described above diagnoses acne based on the RGB values of each pixel. Even if the same skin is photographed, if the characteristics of the CCD are different, the RGB values obtained by the imaging are also different. It can be a cause.

Meanwhile, the present invention does not consider a diagnostic device provided in a dermatological hospital which should be diagnosed professionally, but rather a device that enables a general person to diagnose himself / herself at home. Therefore, There is a problem that the economic burden of the system increases. Especially, if you have to purchase different equipment every time you want to diagnose different skin diseases, the economic burden may increase. Accordingly, in the present invention, a computation device, a memory, an image sensor, and the like, which can be constituted so as not to be replaced, can be used as a smartphone or a tablet The present invention provides a skin diagnostic apparatus which can be implemented as a portable terminal and can be simply replaced with a photographing module according to the type of skin disease to be diagnosed economically.

Hereinafter, a skin diagnosis apparatus that reflects all of the above considerations will be described. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a skin diagnosis apparatus applicable to the skin diagnosis method according to the present invention, FIG. 8 is a side view and front view of the skin diagnosis apparatus of FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the photographing module of Fig. 10, Fig. 12 to Fig. 15 are a perspective view of the fixing module of Fig. 10 and Fig. 10 FIG. 16 is a side cross-sectional view of a skin diagnosis apparatus fastened in the manner shown in FIG. 12; FIG.

The skin diagnosis apparatus of the present invention can be implemented with a minimum configuration by using an image sensor 94 of a portable terminal 90 such as a smart phone or a tablet carried by each individual, a computing device (CPU), a memory, and the like together. As an example of the image sensor 94, a CCD is exemplified in the present invention. The image sensor 94 installed in the portable terminal may be configured as an array of a B sensor for detecting blue light, a G sensor for detecting green light, and an R sensor for detecting red light.

The acne diagnosis apparatus of the present invention can be implemented by a fixing module 8 for fixing the portable terminal 90, the photographing module 2 and the photographing module 2 to the portable terminal 90.

The fixing module 8 functions to fix the portable terminal 90 and the photographing module 2 to each other. The fixing module 8 includes a base 80 fixed to the portable terminal 90 and a first detachable opening 81 for fixing the photographing module 2. For example, the base 80 may be a case to cover the portable terminal to protect it from an impact or the like. In such a case, a through hole is formed at a position corresponding to a portion of the portable terminal corresponding to the camera portion. A first attaching / detaching port 81 is formed around the through hole so as to be coupled to or separated from the photographing module 2 described later. The first attachment / detachment port 81 may be integrally formed with the base 80 (refer to FIGS. 12 to 14). Since the first attachment / detachment port 81 is separated from the base 80, 1 attachment / detachment port 81 may be fitted in the base 80 (see Fig. 15).

The photographing module 2 includes, as its casing, a housing 20 which houses therein various structures. The housing 20 has a hollow cylindrical large-diameter portion having a relatively large diameter, a distal end portion of which is in contact with the periphery of the skin to be photographed and prevents light other than light emitted from the LED 40 from being irradiated to the skin to be photographed 22, a proximal end thereof is fastened and fixed to the first detachable attachment 81, and the light emitted from the skin is applied to the image sensor 94 of the portable terminal 90, A hollow cylindrical small-diameter portion 26 on which optical components are installed, and an annular flat plate-shaped step 23 connecting the large-diameter portion and the small-diameter portion to each other.

The housing 20 can be integrally made of synthetic resin. The diameter of the large diameter portion 22 of the housing may be approximately 30 mm and the height may be approximately 14 mm and the diameter and height of the small diameter portion 26 may be determined corresponding to the optical lens 92 and the image sensor 94 of the portable terminal used together have.

A substrate 30 provided with a control circuit for controlling the operation of various components including LEDs is provided inside the housing 20. The substrate used in the present invention is provided on the inner surface side of the aforementioned step 23 and has an annular flat plate shape like the step 23. A circular hole 32 is formed in the center of the substrate 30, and the diameter of the hole has a dimension corresponding to the inner diameter of the small diameter portion 26. On the front face of the annular substrate 30, an LED 40 for irradiating the light of the first wavelength band toward the distal end of the opened large-diameter portion 22 is provided. The LEDs 40 are mounted at equal intervals around the annular substrate portion so that the orientation of the imaging module 2 is not required to be taken into consideration when the imaging module 2 is fixed to the portable terminal 90.

The light in the first wavelength range irradiated by the LED 40 installed in the photographing module 2 used for diagnosing acne is blue light having a peak wavelength of 407 nm. However, the peak wavelength of light in the first wavelength band necessary for diagnosis of acne does not necessarily have to be limited to 407 nm, and may be blue light or near-ultraviolet light having a peak wavelength of 380 nm to 420 nm. This corresponds to the width of the spectrum corresponding to half of the maximum absorption rate in the absorption spectrum of coproporphyrin 3 shown in Fig. Therefore, if the peak wavelength of the light emitted from the LED is within the range of 380 nm to 420 nm, the light energy absorption efficiency of the porphyrin existing in the skin can be secured to a considerable level.

A control circuit for controlling the operation of the LED is provided on the substrate 30, and a switch for turning on / off the photographing module 2 is provided. The substrate 30 is also electrically connected to a battery 53, which is housed in the housing 20. The battery 53 has an annular shape as shown and may be connected to the substrate 30 so as to be disposed between the tab 23 and the substrate 30. The substrate 30 is also provided with a power control section for controlling the charging or discharging of such a battery. The battery 53 is a secondary battery such as a lithium polymer battery. Charging and discharging may occur reversibly. A charging terminal for connecting an external power source for charging the battery 53 is provided on the substrate 30.

In addition, a Bluetooth chipset is installed on the board, and a control signal can be exchanged with the main body of the portable terminal. The program for using the portable terminal as a skin diagnosis device can be installed in a portable terminal in the form of an application. When a user presses a photographing button after driving the program, a control signal for the LED 40 generated in the portable terminal The LED 40 may be turned on by being transmitted to the control circuit of the substrate 30 through the Bluetooth protocol. Then, the program may cause the image sensor 94 of the portable terminal 90 to take an image within the time when the LED 40 is turned on.

These control signals do not necessarily have to be transmitted in a Bluetooth manner. For example, the USB terminal on the portable terminal is connected to the charging terminal on the substrate 30, and the charging terminal receives power from the USB terminal to charge the battery or to operate the LED. And to transmit it to the LED control circuit. In addition, it is also possible to receive a control signal through an earphone or a headphone connection terminal of a portable terminal. As described above, according to the present invention, a control signal can be exchanged between the portable terminal 90 and the photographing module 2 by applying various communication protocols such as wired or wireless (WiFi, NFC, etc.).

Alternatively, the driving of the LED 40 may be simply turned on and off by a switch. That is, the user can control the LED by turning on the switch and turning off the switch when the user wants to diagnose the skin.

Further, the photographing module 2 has a structure in which the battery 53 is omitted, and the charging terminal may be used as a power supply terminal. For example, the USB terminal of the portable terminal 90 and the power terminal of the photographing module 2 may be connected by wire to supply power to the portable terminal 90. Of course, as described above, the LED control signal may be received from the USB terminal and transmitted to the LED control circuit.

In the small-diameter portion 26, the wide-angle lens 62 and the long-pass filter 64 are fitted and fixed in order, respectively. In the embodiment, the wide-angle lens 62 and the long-pass filter 64 are fixed to the inner surface of the small-diameter portion in an interference fit manner. However, other conventional fixing methods are also applicable.

The wide-angle lens 62 is a structure for fitting the focal distance to the image sensor 94 of the portable terminal 90 even at the height of the short housing. Therefore, the image of the skin can be focused on the image sensor 94 by the wide-angle lens 62 and the optical lens 92 of the portable terminal 90.

In order to diagnose acne according to the diagnostic method, for example, the long-pass filter 64 may be configured to pass only light having a wavelength of more than 500 nm so as to include light of the second wavelength band. That is, the long-pass filter 64 functions to exclude blue light, which is the first wavelength range irradiated to the skin, and pass green light and longer wavelength light so that the second wavelength range includes the light. Therefore, the RGB sensor of the image sensor 94 can prevent the pixels from becoming white in response to strong reflected light near 407 nm, which is the light of the first wavelength band directly reflected from the skin surface.

In the present invention, it is exemplified that the wide-angle lens 62 and the long-pass filter 64 are provided separately. But in actual production, it can be built in one. The wide-angle lens 62 is designed with a PMMA resin having excellent light transmittance and is injection-molded to produce a lens. The lens is mixed with a yellow-based pigment which absorbs the wavelength of the first wavelength band, can do. According to this method, since the number of parts is reduced and the number of parts is reduced, there is an advantage that the volume of the product can be reduced and the manufacturing cost can be lowered. That is, the shape is the shape of the wide-angle lens 62, and the medium of the lens absorbs the light of the first wavelength band, so that the long-pass filter 64 functions simultaneously.

The housing 20 having the above-described various structures can be fixed to the portable terminal 90 by being fixed to the base 80, which is a case of the portable terminal, as described above.

12, the second attachment / detachment opening 71 located at the base end of the small-diameter portion 26 is provided with a wedge 71-1 and the first attachment / detachment opening 81 of the base 80 is provided with the female screw The imaging module 2 can be fixed to the base 80 in a screwed manner and fixed to the portable terminal 90 by forming a male screw 81-1 fitted to the base 71. [ Do. According to the fastening and separating method, the photographing module 2 can be fastened to the base 80 easily only when it is desired to perform skin diagnosis. When a plurality of photographing modules different from each other according to the purpose of diagnosis are provided, It is possible to photograph the skin by selectively fastening the imaging module corresponding to the desired skin disease to the base 80. Then, the user can select a program for photographing and diagnosing the skin disease to be diagnosed at the portable terminal, select the skin disease to be diagnosed within the program after executing the program, or the like.

13, a magnet 71-2 is provided in a second detachment opening 71 located at the base end of the small diameter portion 26, and a magnet 71-2 is provided in the first detachment opening 81 of the base 80, It is preferable that the imaging module 2 is fixed to the base 80 by the magnetic fixing method and fixed to the portable terminal 90 by installing the magnet 81-2 so as to have the magnetic force 71-2 and the attraction force It is possible. Of course, it is of course possible to further strengthen the fastening force of the two structures by forming protrusions and grooves corresponding to each other on the side where the base 80 and the small diameter portion 26 face each other and fitting them together.

14, a fitting portion 71-3 is provided in the second attachment / detachment opening 71 located at the proximal end of the small diameter portion 26, and the first attachment / detachment opening 81 of the base 80 is provided, The fitting portion 81-3 is provided so that the fitting portion 71-2 is fitted in the fitting portion 71-2 so that the photographing module 2 can be fitted to the first attachment / It is possible to fix the portable terminal 90 with respect thereto. Of course, as shown in the drawing, protrusions are provided in the fitting portion 71-3 and grooves are formed in the fitting portion 81-3 so that these protrusions can be forced into each other, so that they are fitted to each other, Of course it is possible.

12 to 14 show an example in which the base 80 and the first attachment / detachment port 81 are integrally formed. However, the first attachment / detachment port 81 is detachable with respect to the base 80, so that the first attachment / detachment port 81 can be inserted into the base only when the photographing module 2 is fixed to the base . For example, as shown in Fig. 15, the first attaching / detaching port 81 is fitted to the through hole of the base 80 on the back face of the case, and the photographing module 2 is mounted on the first attaching / 81, respectively. The first detachable portion 81 includes a detachable portion 811 which is a portion to be engaged with the second detachable portion 71 of the photographing module 2 and a base fixing portion 812 which is a portion fixed to the base 80, . The diameter of the base fixing portion 812 is larger than the diameter of the through hole of the case, so that it can not pass through the through hole. In FIG. 15, it is illustrated that the first detachable member is detachable from the base when the screw coupling method is used. However, it is needless to say that such a detachable structure can be applied to other methods described above.

When the housing 20 is fixed to the portable terminal 90, the housing 20, that is, the housing 20, together with the image sensor 94 and the optical lens 92 of the portable terminal 90, The long-pass filter 64, the wide-angle lens 62 and the circular hole 32 of the substrate are axis-aligned. As shown in Fig. 16, the tip of the large-diameter portion 22 can take a picture of the skin in close contact with the skin S. The focal distance to the image sensor 94 is fixed to the distance between the image sensor 94 and the distal end of the large-diameter portion 22, because the large-diameter portion 22 is in contact with the skin. In addition, the large-diameter portion 22 is made of an opaque material, so that light can be prevented from being irradiated to a space inside the barrel from other light sources except for the LED 40. [ That is, the inside of the barrel satisfies the dark room condition in which there is no light source other than the LED 40. [

Therefore, the skin-contacting large-diameter portion 22 of the skin diagnosis apparatus of the present invention satisfies the condition that the light other than the light irradiated from the LED emitting light in the first wavelength band, for example, blue light in the vicinity of 407 nm, And at the same time, the scale of the image of the skin taken by the image sensor 94 can all be made the same.

On the other hand, the photographing module 2 can be used by being attached to various portable terminals. However, when the photographing module (2) is attached to such a different device, the spectrum of the sensitivity of the R, G, B sensor of the image sensor installed in the corresponding device must be grasped. That is, since the sensitivity of the R, G, and B sensors is different for each device, even if the same skin is photographed, there is a difference in the RGB values processed in the photographed image. Therefore, the formula f (R, G, B) reflecting the sensitivity of different R, G, B sensors is required for each device. However, this can be provided by a manufacturer of the photographing module 2 as an application of a portable terminal such as a smart phone or a tablet. That is, if an application that implements the image process reflecting the spectral information of the sensitivities of the R, G, and B sensors detected by each device is uploaded to the App Store, and the user downloads and installs the application in the portable terminal, It can actively cope with various image sensors having different tendencies.

Accordingly, the users can purchase the imaging modules 2 that can diagnose the skin diseases to be diagnosed by the user, install the imaging modules 2 on their own smartphone, and install the application to implement the diagnostic device. Also, since the imaging module (2) can be implemented with only the minimum configuration described above, it is possible to lower the price. Thus, users can conveniently use themselves at home.

Hereinafter, such a device is used to describe a method of diagnosing a skin condition, for example, acne.

The user installs a program for conducting diagnosis of acne on his / her portable terminal 90. The photographing module 2 is installed on the base 80 of the portable terminal 90 so that the photographing module 2 and the optical lens 92 of the portable terminal 90 are aligned and fixed.

The user turns on the switch of the photographing module 2, drives the program of the portable terminal 90, and connects the photographing module 2 and the portable terminal 90 via Bluetooth. Then, the program loads the threshold value of the characteristic of the image sensor 94 used for the corresponding model and the threshold value for judging whether acne is caused according to the model of the portable terminal 90 into the memory.

The user touches the tip of the large-diameter part 22 to the skin to diagnose acne, and presses the photographing button on the portable terminal 90. Then, the control signal is transmitted from the portable terminal 90 to the photographing module 2 through the Bluetooth protocol, and the LED control circuit and the power control unit provided on the board 30 operate to turn on the LED. The portable terminal 90 photographs the skin through the image sensor 94 while the LED is on. Then, the image photographed by the image sensor 94 detects light having a wavelength of 500 nm or more, and generates RGB values for each pixel.

The RGB values generated for each pixel are stored in the memory of the portable terminal. The computing device of the portable terminal proceeds with the image process for the photographed RGB values and compares the calculated value with the RGB value of each pixel to determine whether the pixel portion is related to acne. Then, it is determined whether the area exceeds a predetermined standard.

In the program of the portable terminal, the image of the image picked up by the image sensor 94 is displayed on the display 96 of the portable terminal 90 to indicate the place where the acne has occurred or is likely to occur, do.

Then, the user can see the display of the portable terminal, and the area indicated by the light in the vicinity of 520 nm can be judged to be the part of the acne where inflammation is to occur or occurred. For reference, the sebum in the pores is also expressed in yellow to red, which is also noticeable.

In addition, when the number of incidence (possible) points of acne per unit area as a reference becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined level, the user is informed in a visual manner through sound or vibration, or through a display, We can suggest management method.

The above-described combination of the portable terminal and the photographing module can realize a small device, and can be easily used at home or at home, which specializes in skin care. In addition, it is possible to diagnose various skin diseases simply by changing the imaging module. In particular, it is very easy to use because it can collect and display user data in real time.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It is obvious that a transformation can be made. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the effects of the present invention are not explicitly described and described, but it is needless to say that the effects that can be predicted by the configurations should also be recognized.

1: Skin Diagnosis Device
2: Shooting module
20: Housing
22: Large neck
23:
26: Small neck
30: substrate
32: Circular hole
40: LED
53: Battery
62: Lens (wide angle)
64: Long pass filter
71: Second detachment port
71-1: Screw
71-2: Magnetic
71-3:
8: Fixed module
80: Base
81: First detachment
81-1: Screw
81-2: Magnetic
81-3:
811:
812:
90: Portable terminal
92: Optical lens
94: Image sensor
96: Display
S: skin

Claims (23)

A housing having a distal end contacting the skin;
A substrate disposed within the housing; And
And an LED mounted on the substrate and irradiating the light of the first wavelength band toward the skin that is in contact with the tip,
A base fixed to the portable terminal; And
And a first attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching / attaching / detaching /
The method according to claim 1,
The photographing module,
And a lens installed in the housing and positioned in a path along which the light emitted from the skin is incident on the image sensor to adjust the focal distance of the skin that is in contact with the distal end of the housing to the image sensor.
The method according to claim 1,
The photographing module,
A light emitting diode (LED) disposed in the housing and positioned in a path along which the light emitted from the skin is incident on the image sensor to block light of a first wavelength band emitted from the LEDs and to emit light of a second wavelength band that is longer than the light of the first wavelength band And a long-pass filter for transmitting the long-pass filter.
The method of claim 2,
Wherein the lens has a function of a long-pass filter that transmits light of a second wavelength band that is longer than wavelength of the light of the first wavelength band by intercepting light of a first wavelength band emitted from the LED. .
The method of claim 4,
Wherein the lens is made of PMMA and mixed with a pigment absorbing light of a first wavelength band.
The method according to claim 1,
A hole is formed in the substrate,
The hole is disposed in the longitudinal center axis of the housing within the housing,
Wherein the LED is mounted around the hole and radially disposed at equal intervals with respect to a longitudinal center axis of the housing.
The method of claim 2,
A hole is formed in the substrate,
The hole is disposed in the longitudinal center axis of the housing within the housing,
Wherein the lens is disposed closer to the image sensor than the substrate, and the center of the lens is aligned with the longitudinal center axis of the housing.
The method of claim 3,
A hole is formed in the substrate,
The hole is disposed in the longitudinal center axis of the housing within the housing,
Wherein the long-pass filter is disposed closer to the image sensor than the substrate.
The method according to claim 1,
A hole is formed in the substrate,
The hole is disposed in the longitudinal center axis of the housing within the housing,
The housing includes a large-diameter portion having a distal end portion contacting the skin; A small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion; And an annular step portion connecting the large-diameter portion and the opposite end of the small-diameter portion,
Wherein the substrate is accommodated in the large-diameter portion and is installed side by side with respect to the step portion.
The method according to claim 1,
And a second attachment / detachment / releasable member is detachably / fastened to the first attachment / detachment / attachment unit at a proximal end of the housing.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the first detachable portion and the second detachable portion are fastened with a female screw in a male threaded manner.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the first detachable portion and the second detachable portion are two magnetic forces acting on each other.
The method of claim 10,
Wherein the first detachable portion and the second detachable portion are interference fit with each other.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first detachable portion is detachably fixed to the base,
Wherein the first detachable portion includes a detachable portion detachably coupled to the imaging module and a base fixing portion detachably secured to the base.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the base is a case of the portable terminal.
15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the base is a case of the portable terminal,
Wherein the case is formed with a through hole so as to be aligned with the optical lens and the image sensor portion of the portable terminal,
Wherein the first detachable part is inserted into the through hole from the back surface of the case, and the base fixing part has a larger diameter than the through hole of the case.
The method according to claim 1,
The photographing module,
And a battery accommodated in the housing, charged by being supplied with power from the outside, and discharged to supply power to the LED.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the substrate is provided with a switch for controlling ON / OFF of the photographing module.
The method of claim 8,
And a module for short range wireless communication with the portable terminal is installed on the substrate.
The method according to claim 1,
The skin diagnosis apparatus further includes a portable terminal fixed to the base,
Wherein the image sensor of the portable terminal includes a blue light sensing element, a green light sensing element, and a red light sensing element.
The method according to claim 1,
The skin diagnosis apparatus further includes a portable terminal fixed to the base,
Wherein the portable terminal is provided with a program for controlling the diagnostic module and processing an image photographed by the image sensor.
23. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the program generates a signal to inform the user of the fact that the skin condition is abnormal as a result of the image processing.
23. The method of claim 21,
Wherein the program displays the photographed image on a display of the portable terminal.

Images