A DERMATOSCOPY DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR CHECKING SKIN LESIONS

Abstract

A dermatoscopy device and a method for checking skin lesions are disclosed. The device comprises an enclosed chamber (10); a displacement element (12) to be moved inside the chamber (10); an image acquisition system (20) attached to the displacement element (12); lighting elements (13, 14) and a computing unit (30). The image acquisition system (20) has a stereoscopic camera (21, 22) and a dermatoscopic camera (23). The computing unit (30) analyzes, for each body region, an image acquired by the stereoscopic camera (21, 22); executes a scanning algorithm that detects skin structures in said image and that checks whether said structures fulfill a criteria; upon a given skin structure is determined as fulfilling the criteria, executes a motion algorithm that moves the displacement element (12) to said given body region; and triggers an order, in order the dermatoscopic camera (23) acquiring, at a determined distance, an image of said skin structure.

Claims

1. A dermatoscopy device for checking skin lesions, comprising: an enclosed chamber configured and dimensioned to accommodate a user to be examined on an inside thereof; an image acquisition system configured to acquire images from different body regions of the user; a first lighting element and a second lighting element a computing unit operatively connected to a displacement element and to said image acquisition system said computing unit configured to process said acquired images; said displacement element configured to be moved on axes x, y, z on said inside of said enclosed chamber; said image acquisition system attached to a support of said displacement element and comprising at least one camera of a first type and at least one camera of a second type, said at least one camera of said first type being configured to operate independently of said at least one camera of said second type, said at least one camera of the second type being a dermatoscopic camera, and said at least one camera of said first type being a stereoscopic camera or two cameras configured to operate as a stereoscopic camera; each of said first lighting element and said second lighting element attached to an end of said support of said displacement element; and processing said acquired images comprises: analyzing, for each one of said different body regions, at least one image acquired by said at least one camera of said first type; executing a scanning algorithm configured to detect a plurality of skin structures of a given one of said different body regions in said at least one acquired image and configured to check whether any one of said plurality of detected skin structures fulfills a given criteria; upon said scanning algorithm detecting that at least one of said plurality of skin structures of a given one of said different body regions fulfills said given criteria, executing a motion algorithm configured to automatically move said displacement element to a corresponding one of said different body regions; and providing a triggering order to said image acquisition system, and as a result of implementing said triggering order, using said at least one camera of said second type to acquire, at a determined distance, at least one image of said given skin structure, said determined distance being comprised in a range between 100 mm to 1000 mm from the user.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said at least one camera of said first type comprises a passive stereo camera, an active stereo camera with a structured light source or a laser, a time-of-flight (TOF) camera, or the combination of a LIDAR and a single camera.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said displacement element is configured and dimensioned to move on a guiding railway of a guiding system, the guiding system being disposed on an interior wall of the enclosed chamber.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the lighting elements comprises a light emitting diode (LED) with a light confinement chamber and a polarization filter; said polarization filter having a 90° offset with respect to a polarization filter of said dermatoscopic camera.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a positioning unit configured to indicate a position in which the user has to be placed inside the enclosed chamber.

6. The device of claim 3, further comprising a positioning unit configured to automatically move the user towards said interior wall of said enclosed chamber.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein said displacement element further comprises at least one articulable element configured to allow said displacement element to be moved in in a plurality of directions.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein said given criteria is based on an ABCD rule of dermatoscopy based on an asymmetry (A), border (B), color (C) and differential structure (D), of said detected skin structures.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein said distance is comprised in a range between 300 mm to 600 mm.

10. A method for checking skin lesions, comprising: a) accommodating a user to be examined within an enclosed chamber of a dermatoscopy device; b) moving, via a displacement element of the dermatoscopy device, an image acquisition system of the dermatoscopy device towards different body parts of a given body side of the user, the image acquisition system comprising at least one camera of a first type and at least one camera of a second type; c) using the least one camera of the first type of the image acquisition system, to acquire one or more images of the different body parts of the user; the at least one camera of the first type comprising a stereoscopic camera or two cameras operating as a stereoscopic camera, and the acquired one or more images being stereoscopic images that are acquired under controlled lighting conditions; d) using a computing unit to analyze the acquired stereoscopic images by executing a scanning algorithm that checks whether any one of a plurality of skin structures included in the stereoscopic images fulfills a given criteria; e) Upon detecting that a given one of the plurality of skin structures of a given body region fulfills the given criteria, using the computing unit to execute a motion algorithm to automatically move the displacement element towards the given body region; f) in response to a triggering order from the computing unit, using the at least one camera of the second type of the image acquisition system, which is a dermatoscopic camera, at a determined distance, to acquire at least one dermatoscopic image of the given skin structure; the determined distance being comprised in a range between 100 mm and 1000 mm from the user; and g) providing the acquired at least one dermatoscopic image using the computing unit, step b) being performed for all the body sides of the user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the given criteria is based on an ABCD rule of dermatoscopy based on an asymmetry (A), border (B), color (C) and differential structure (D) of the skin structures.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the scanning algorithm comprises at least a neural network, a decision tree-based algorithm or a support vector machine.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein prior to step b), a positioning unit of the dermatoscopy device indicates a position in which the user has to be placed inside the enclosed chamber.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein prior to step b), a positioning unit automatically moves the user towards an interior wall of the enclosed chamber; the enclosed chamber comprising a guiding system comprising a guiding railway configured for movement of the displacement element.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the distance is comprised in a range between 300 mm and 600 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The previous and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of embodiments, with reference to the attached figures, which must be considered in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates the proposed dermatoscopy device for checking skin lesions, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates in more detail the image acquisition system, lighting elements and displacement element of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

[0035] FIG. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the image acquisition system, lighting elements and displacement element.

[0036] FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of the different type of images that can be acquired with the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps executed by the computing unit to check skin lesions, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] FIGS. 1 and 2 show the proposed architecture of the invention for checking skin lesions, including primary and secondary skin lesions, according to an embodiment. In this particular embodiment, the dermatoscopy device 1 includes an enclosed chamber 10 designed to accommodate a user/patient to be examined; a guiding system 15 formed by two vertical guide members attached on an interior wall of the enclosed chamber 10 (not limitative as in other embodiments the guiding system can comprise a robotic arm or can be formed by guide members attached on different interior walls of the enclosed chamber 10); a displacement element 12 arranged on a guiding railway 16 of the cited guiding system 15 and suitable to be moved on the three axes (x, y, z) inside the enclosed chamber 10; an image acquisition system 20 attached on a support 11 of the displacement element 12; two lighting elements 13, 14; a positioning unit 17; and a computing unit 30 with one or more processors and at least one memory.

[0039] The computing unit 30 is operatively connected to the displacement element 12 and to the image acquisition system 20 and is adapted and configured to implement/execute different algorithms in order to control operation thereof. It should be noted that in other embodiments, the computing unit 30 instead of being included in the dermatoscopy device 1 can be located remote therefrom. For example, in this latter case, the computing unit can be a PC, a cloud server, a Smartphone, a Tablet, etc. placed distant from the dermatoscopy device 1.

[0040] In the particular embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the image acquisition system 20 includes two cameras 21, 22 that are configured to operate as a stereoscopic camera (hence from now on being termed stereoscopic cameras) and a dermatoscopic camera 23. The two stereoscopic cameras 21, 22 operate simultaneously and regardless of the dermatoscopic camera 23. The dermatoscopic camera 23 is configured to acquire dermatoscopic images 32 (see FIG. 4 for an example) at a certain distance from the user, for example, at 100-1000 mm, particularly at 300-600 mm from the user.

[0041] In other embodiments (not showed), the image acquisition system 20 includes a single stereoscopic camera, for example consisting of a structured-light 3D sensor, or active stereo camera with a structured light source or a laser, a passive stereo camera, a TOF camera, etc.

[0042] In other embodiments (not showed either) the dermatoscopy device 1 includes a higher number of lighting elements, for example four or more lighting elements.

[0043] With regard to the lighting elements 13, 14, each one comprises a high-power LED, with a light confinement chamber and a refrigerating system (i.e. each LED element has a radiator and a fan attached). Moreover, each lighting element 13, 14 has a polarization filter having a 90° offset with respect to a polarization filter of the dermatoscopic camera 23. Thus, a cross polarization is generated.

[0044] The lighting elements 13, 14 are arranged on the cited support 11 separated from the image acquisition system 20 in order to operate at a given angle (between 35° and 55°) considering the operating distance of the dermatoscopic camera 23.

[0045] In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the positioning unit 17 comprises a floor display that is configured to indicate to the user a position in which (s)he has to be placed/located inside the enclosed chamber in order the images (31, 32) from different body sides being acquired. In this case, the user has to move herself/himself to the indicated position. In other embodiments, the positioning unit 17 can automatically move the user towards the displacement element 12 and image acquisition system 20.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment in which the displacement element 12 includes an articulable element 19 that allows the additional movement of the displacement element 12 in multiple degrees of freedom. That is, with the articulable element 19 the displacement element 12 can be not only moved in relation to the (x, y, z) axis but can also be pivotable in relation to different rotation axis.

[0047] With reference now to FIG. 5, therein it is illustrated an embodiment of the processing steps executed by the computing unit. This method is initiated once a user to be examined (see FIG. 4 for an example) is accommodated within the enclosed chamber 10 of the proposed dermatoscopy device 1 and once the image acquisition system 20 is moved towards a first body part (e.g. the torso) of a given body side (e.g. the ventral side of the body) of the user. In this case it has been supposed that the image acquisition system 20 includes two cameras configured to operate as a passive stereoscopic camera (not limiting as other types of cameras can be used as indicated above) and a dermatoscopic camera.

[0048] At step 501, the computing unit analyzes the acquired stereoscopic image(s) 31 by executing a scanning algorithm that checks whether skin structures (e.g. actinic keratosis, moles, skin marks, etc.) included in said stereoscopic image(s) 31 fulfill a given criteria (step 502). If no skin structures fulfilling the criteria are found, the computing unit simply provides (step 503) the results of the previous analysis. Otherwise, i.e. if a given skin structure has been determined as fulfilling the given criteria, the computing unit, at step 504, executes a motion algorithm that automatically moves (and optionally rotates) the displacement element 12, and so the image acquisition system 20 and the lighting elements 13, 14, towards the body part where the skin structure is located. Then, at step 505, the computing unit triggers a command/order to the image acquisition unit 20 in order the dermatoscopic camera 23 acquiring, at a determined distance from the user, particularly at approx. 300-600 mm from the user, at least one dermatoscopic image 32 of said skin structure. Once the dermatoscopic image 32 is acquired, the computing unit, at step 506, provides the dermatoscopic image, for example via a display thereof, via a specific user interface, by printing it, etc. In this sense, a physician/doctor can latter use the dermatoscopic image to make an accurate diagnosis of the skin lesion.

[0049] It should be noted that, previous steps are performed for all the body sides of the user, if necessary. For example, for the lateral and dorsal sides of the user, and for different body parts, such as the legs, arms, head, back, etc., of each body side. If the user has to be moved to a given position in order the image/images being acquired from a specific body part or body side, a further step of the method could be an indication of such a position.

[0050] In certain embodiments, said criteria is based on an ABCD rule of dermatoscopy based on the criteria asymmetry, A, border, B, color, C, and differential structure, D, of the skin structures. Complementarily or alternatively, in certain embodiments, the scanning algorithm can comprise a neural network, a decision tree-based algorithm and/or a support vector machine.

[0051] In an embodiment, the scanning algorithm is executed/implemented on at least one clinical image and particularly also uses additional features of the skin lesion (for example, size and/or volume of the skin lesion). Then, the algorithm performs, at least, a classification task, and as a result, provides a value of “potential malignity” of a given lesion. The criteria can be then based on that value and a given threshold.

[0052] In other embodiments, in the particular case that two cameras 21, 22 configured to operate as a stereoscopic camera are used, the image(s) 31 acquired by each camera are analyzed in parallel. Once the scanning algorithm has detected a skin structure in one of the stereoscopic images 31, it matches the position thereof in the other stereoscopic image 31 in order to identify the exact position of the skin structure.

[0053] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present teachings are amenable to a variety of modifications and/or enhancements. All applications, modifications and alterations required to be protected in the claims may be within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0054] The scope of the present invention is defined in the following set of claims.