Patent Application
20200178881
The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for identifying hyperpigmented spots. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to classifying a hyperpigmented spot into one of a plurality of classifications and providing a treatment regimen or product to treat the hyperpigmented spot.
Hyperpigmented spots are a common concern in the cosmetic skin industry. Like other perceived cosmetic skin blemishes, hyperpigmented spots can cause emotional and psychological distress to those afflicted by the condition. The vast majority of hyperpigmented facial spots are benign, but in some rare instances, a hyperpigmented spot may be an indication of a more serious skin condition (e.g., melanoma). Although histopathology is commonly used for the diagnosis of skin spots, non-invasive measurements are generally preferred because it reduces or eliminates some of the drawbacks associated with breaking the skin's barrier (risk of infection, scarring, etc.).
Non-invasive diagnostic techniques are known, but some non-invasive diagnostic techniques may not provide the desired level of accuracy for diagnosing spot type and/or severity. For example, different types of hyperpigmented spots can be difficult differentiate using naked eye examination. Additionally, naked eye examination can introduce varying degrees of subjectivity into a skin spot diagnosis, which may result in an inconsistent skin care regimen or skin care product recommendation, especially if different people are consulted for a diagnosis (e.g., beauty consultant versus a dermatologist). Thus, it would be desirable to use a non-invasive diagnostic method that removes at least some, and ideally all, of the subjectivity associated with a naked eye examination.
In some instances, a more objective assessment of hyperpigmentation may be provided by using a colorimeter or spectral meter, but only a small area of skin can be examined at each measurement. As a result, this process requires taking multiple measurements if the number of spots involved is large. In some instances, it can be difficult to provide a desired level of repeatability using colorimeter or spectral meter because it is difficult to relocate the same exact area in each test. Accordingly, a need exists in the industry for a system for identifying and classifying hyperpigmented spots on a subject.
Disclosed herein is a system for identifying hyperpigmented spots. In some instances, the system includes an image capture device equipped with a cross-polarized filter for capturing an image of a subject. The system may also include a computing device comprising a processor and a memory component. The memory component stores logic that, when executed by the processor, causes the computing device to receive the image of the subject, receive a baseline image of the subject, identify a hyperpigmented spot in the image of the subject, and annotate the image of the subject to distinguish the hyperpigmented spot in the image. In some instances, the logic causes the system to classify the hyperpigmented spot into a predetermined class, determine a product for treating the hyperpigmented spot according to the predetermined class, and provide information related to the product for use by the subject.
In some instances, the system herein may include a computing device that stores logic that, when executed by a processor, causes the computing device to receive a digital image of a subject, where the digital image of the subject is captured using cross-polarized lighting, receive a baseline image of the subject that was not captured using cross-polarized lighting, and identify a hyperpigmented spot in the digital image of the subject. The logic may cause the computing device to provide the baseline image and an electronically annotated version the digital image of the subject to distinguish the hyperpigmented spot for display, classify the hyperpigmented spot into a predetermined class, and determine a product for treating the hyperpigmented spot according to the predetermined class. The logic may also cause the computing device to provide information related to the product for use by the subject.
Also disclosed is a dispensing device. The dispensing device may include a computing device that stores logic that, when executed by a processor, causes the dispensing device to receive a digital image of a subject, identify, by a computing device, a hyperpigmented spot in the digital image of the subject, and electronically annotate, by a computing device, the digital image of the subject to distinguish the hyperpigmented spot in the digital image. In some instances, the logic causes the dispensing device to classify, by a computing device, the hyperpigmented spot into a predetermined class, determine, by a computing device, a treatment regimen for treating the hyperpigmented spot according to the predetermined class, and provide, by a computing device, information related to the treatment regimen for use by the subject. In some instances, the dispensing device may dispense a product that is part of the treatment regimen in response to a user selection.
“About” means inclusively within 15% of the stated value.
“Cosmetic” means a non-medical method of providing a desired visual effect on an area of the human body. The visual cosmetic effect may be temporary, semi-permanent, or permanent.
“Cosmetic agent” means any substance, as well any component thereof, intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, sprayed, introduced into, or otherwise applied to a mammalian body or any part thereof to provide a cosmetic effect (e.g., cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, and/or altering the appearance).
“Cosmetic products” are products that include a cosmetic agent (e.g., skin moisturizers, lotions, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail polishes, eye and facial makeup preparations, cleansing shampoos, hair colors, shave prep, and deodorants).
“Hyperpigmented” and “hyperpigmented spot” mean a localized portion of skin with relatively high melanin content compared to nearby portions of skin in the same general area of the body. Examples of hyperpigmented spots include, but are not limited to age spots, melasma, chloasma, freckles, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, sun-induced pigmented blemishes, and the like.
“Improve the appearance of” means providing a measurable, desirable change or benefit in skin appearance, which may be quantified, for example, by a reduction in the spot area fraction of a hyperpigmented spot and/or an increase in L* value of a hyperpigmented spot. Methods for determining spot area fraction and L* value and changes in these properties are known to those skilled in the art. Some non-limiting examples of these methods are described in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 15/402,332.
“Skin care” means regulating and/or improving a skin condition. Some nonlimiting examples include improving skin appearance and/or feel by providing a smoother, more even appearance and/or feel; increasing the thickness of one or more layers of the skin; improving the elasticity or resiliency of the skin; improving the firmness of the skin; and reducing the oily, shiny, and/or dull appearance of skin, improving the hydration status or moisturization of the skin, improving the appearance of fine lines and/or wrinkles, improving skin exfoliation or desquamation, plumping the skin, improving skin barrier properties, improve skin tone, reducing the appearance of redness or skin blotches, and/or improving the brightness, radiancy, or translucency of skin.
“Subject” refers to a person upon whom the use of methods and systems herein is for cosmetic purposes.
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for identifying hyperpigmented spots. Different types of hyperpigmented spots have different treatments and prognoses, and thus the systems and methods herein may be configured to provide correct diagnoses and consistent monitoring of hyperpigmented spots for planning management. For example, the systems and method herein may be configured to automatically classify hyperpigmented facial spots into eight different types of hyperpigmentation: solar lentigo, melasma, seborrhoeic keratosis, melanocytic nevus, freckle, actinic keratosis, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation and none of the above. Surprisingly, it has been found that classifying and annotating hyperpigmented spots, as described herein, has had a dramatic effect in proper treatment and reduction of the hyperpigmented spots. It has also been found that the process of creating a fitted ellipse around an image of the hyperpigmented spot and performing pixel analysis to determine texture of a hyperpigmented spot has greatly improved the classification, treatment, and appearance of hyperpigmented spots. In particular, the present method improves the ability of a computer to accurately predict the classification of a hyperpigmented spot.
Coupled to the network 100 are the user computing device 102a, the dispensing device 102b and the mobile device 102c (individually and collectively referred to herein as “the device 102”). The user computing device 102a may be configured as any computing device that may be utilized for capturing images, communicating with the remote computing device 104, and/or providing one or more user interfaces to a user. As such, the user computing device 102a may be configured as a personal computer, a laptop, and the like. Additionally, while the image capture device may be integrated into the user computing device 102a (and/or the devices 102b, 102c), some embodiments of a system may include a separate image capture device (e.g., a conventional stand-alone digital camera) that captures imagery described herein and is capable of transferring that imagery (or data related to that imagery) to the appropriate device.
The dispensing device 102b may include a computer, display, input device, as well as hardware for dispensing one or more products. As such, the dispensing device 102b may include similar functionality as the user computing device 102a, except with the ability to dispense products, such as one or more cosmetic products or cosmetic agents. The mobile device 102c may also include similar hardware and functionality but may be configured as a mobile phone, tablet, personal digital assistant, and/or the like.
Regardless, the user computing device 102a, the dispensing device 102b, and/or the mobile device 102c may include an image capture device that is configured to capture digital images of a subject. As described in more detail below, some of the images may include a cross polarization light and/or filter. As such, some embodiments of the image capture device may utilize one or more lenses when capturing an image. In other embodiments cross-polarization may be undesired and thus not utilized.
The remote computing device 104 may be configured to communicate with the user computing device 102a, the dispensing device 102b, and/or the mobile device 102c via the network 100. As such, the remote computing device 104 may be configured as a server, personal computer, smart phone, laptop, notebook, kiosk, and the like. The remote computing device 104 may include a memory component 140 and other components depicted in
It will be understood that while the identifier logic 144a and the treatment logic 144b are depicted as residing in the memory component 140 of the remote computing device 104, this is merely an example. Some embodiments may be configured with logic for performing the described functionality in the user computing device 102a, the dispensing device 102b, and/or the mobile device 102c. Similarly, some embodiments may be configured to utilize another computing device not depicted in
It will also be understood that, depending on the embodiment, systems and methods described herein may be utilized for a consumer in the field of cosmetics (e.g., for skin care) or for a patient in the medical field. Embodiments related to the medical field include products for and/or methods relating to the treatment of a medical condition. This includes products that require operation by a health care professional; products used by a health care professional in the course of a medical diagnosis; products used in the treatment of a disease or other medical condition requiring treatment by a healthcare professional; products sold with a prescription; and the activities of cosmetic/plastic surgeons, dermatologists, general medical practitioners, and pharmaceutical companies.
Additionally, it will be understood that while the remote computing device 104 is depicted in
In response to selection of the capture image option 232, the device 102 may capture an image of the subject. As discussed above, the image may be captured by the device 102 or may be communicated to the device 102 and/or to the remote computing device 104. Regardless, the image may depict one or more hyperpigmented spots on the face of the subject and may be a white light image, unfiltered image, and/or baseline image of the subject.
In response to selection of the capture filtered image option 234, a cross-polarized image may be captured. Depending on the particular embodiment, the cross-polarized image may be captured using cross-polarized light and/or may be captured via a cross-polarized filter. The cross-polarized image is a digital image in some embodiments. In response to selection of the run spot determination option 236, spot identification and classification may commence. In response to selection of the manually identify spot option 238, the user may manually identify a hyperpigmented spot, as described in more detail below.
In response to selection of the run spot determination option 236 from
Also provided in the user interface 330 is an image 342 of the subject, and images of the hyperpigmented spot 344 and 346. In response to selection of the annotate spot option 332, the image 342 may be annotated with an overlay 348 that highlights the identified spot. In response to selection of the zoom filter spot option 334, the digital image of the subject 344 may be provided, which is a cross polarized and zoomed image (e.g., 2×, 3×, 4×, 5×, 10×, or even up to 100× magnification) of the identified spot. In response to selection of the manually annotate spot option 336, additional options may be provided for the user to select and annotate the image manually. In response to selection of the zoom spot option 338, a baseline image 346 may be provided, which is a zoomed image (e.g., 2×, 3×, 4×, 5×, 10×, or even up to 100× magnification) of the annotated hyperpigmented spot (without filter). In some embodiments the digital image of the subject 344 may be compared with the baseline image 346 to determine at least one feature of the hyperpigmented spot. In response to selection of the remove spot option 340, a previously identified spot may be removed from consideration by the user.
It should be understood that while zoomed versions of the images may be compared, as depicted in
To derive shape related parameters, a fitted ellipse 432 with the same (or substantially similar) normalized second central moments as the spot region is fitted to the spot boundary, as illustrated in
where a is the major axis length and b is the minor axis length. Eccentricity of value 0 indicates a circle while eccentricity of value 1 indicates a line segment.
Texture features of the spot may be derived from the rotational invariant uniform local binary pattern (LBP). The LBP operator assigns a label to every pixel (or a plurality of pixels) of an image by thresholding the 3×3 pixel neighborhood of each pixel in the image with the central pixel value (as shown in Table 2, below) and mapping the resultant binary pattern. The rotational invariant uniform LBP label is defined as
where s(gi−g0)=1 if (gi−g0)≥0, s(gi−g0)=0 if (gi−g0)≤0, and U(LBP8) is a uniform operator which computes the number of spatial transitions in the pattern (e.g., the bitwise change from 0 to 1 or vice versa). This leads to 10 different labels (0, 1, 2 . . . , 9), whose occurrence is represented as a 10-bin normalised histogram to describe the texture feature of the image. This may be used to measure and/or compare pixel intensity and/or pixel color of a plurality of pixels in the pixel neighborhood, such as depicted in Table 2.
By using this LBP process, one can determine low level texture features of the hyperpigmented spot. Because textures are often a differentiator in the different types of hyperpigmented spots, this class may be beneficial in identifying a particular type of hyperpigmented spot.
Referring again to
In response to selection of the provide treatment option 532 a treatment regimen may be provided, as illustrated in
In response to selection of the provide treatment option 632, a treatment regimen may be provided, as illustrated in
Additionally, a treatment regimen may be provided for one or more of the identified problem areas. The treatment regimen and the recommended products may be based on the classifications of hyperpigmented spots. As one will understand, as the subject may be unable to apply a different product to each individual spot, the product and treatment regimens contemplate that the subject will only be able to apply product to an area of the skin that covers more than one spot. As such, customized treatment regimens and products may be provided to account for this anticipated macro level application of product.
Also provided are a track progress option 738, a simulate product option 740, and a home option 742. In response to selection of the track progress option, the user may view historical images of the subject to illustrate how the hyperpigmented spot has changed over time (either improved with the treatment regimen or regressed without using the treatment regimen). In response to selection of the simulate product option 740, imagery may be provided that simulates improvement that the subject may expect if he/she follows the treatment regimen. In response to selection of the home option 742, the user may be taken to a previous user interface.
The memory component 140 may store operating logic 942, the identifier logic 144a and the treatment logic 144b. The identifier logic 144a and the treatment logic 144b may each include a plurality of different pieces of logic, each of which may be embodied as a computer program, firmware, and/or hardware, as an example. A local interface 946 is also included in
The processor 930 may include any processing component operable to receive and execute instructions (such as from a data storage component 936 and/or the memory component 140). The input/output hardware 932 may include and/or be configured to interface with microphones, speakers, a display, and/or other hardware.
The network interface hardware 934 may include and/or be configured for communicating with any wired or wireless networking hardware, including an antenna, a modem, LAN port, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) card, WiMax card, Bluetooth chip, USB card, mobile communications hardware, and/or other hardware for communicating with other networks and/or devices. From this connection, communication may be facilitated between the remote computing device 104 and other computing devices, such as the user computing device 102a.
The operating logic 942 may include an operating system and/or other software for managing components of the remote computing device 104. As also discussed above, the identifier logic 144a may reside in the memory component 140 and may be configured to cause the processor 930 to identify, classify, and annotate one or more hyperpigmented spots. Similarly, the treatment logic 144b may be utilized to determine a product and treatment regimen for treating the one or more hyperpigmented spots, as described herein.
It should be understood that while the components in
Additionally, while the remote computing device 104 is illustrated with the identifier logic 144a and the treatment logic 144b as separate logical components, this is also an example. In some embodiments, a single piece of logic may cause the remote computing device 104 to provide the described functionality.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm” Additionally, all numeric ranges described herein are inclusive of narrower ranges; delineated upper and lower range limits are interchangeable to create further ranges not explicitly delineated. Embodiments described herein can comprise, consist essentially of, or consist of, the essential components as well as optional pieces described herein. As used in the description and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application and any patent application or patent to which this application claims priority or benefit thereof, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
It will be understood that reference within the specification to “embodiment(s)” or the like means that a particular material, feature, structure and/or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment, optionally a number of embodiments, but it does not mean that all embodiments incorporate the material, feature, structure, and/or characteristic described. Furthermore, materials, features, structures and/or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner across different embodiments, and materials, features, structures and/or characteristics may be omitted or substituted from what is described. Thus, embodiments and aspects described herein may comprise or be combinable with elements or components of other embodiments and/or aspects despite not being expressly exemplified in combination, unless otherwise stated or an incompatibility is stated.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62547196 | Aug 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US2018/000294 | Aug 2018 | US |
| Child | 16793013 | US |
