Analytic methods of tissue evaluation

• US 10,085,643 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2011
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: mySkin Inc.
• Original Assignee: mySkin Inc.
• Inventors: Bandic, Jadran, Koruga, Djuro, Marinkovich, Sava, Mehendale, Rahul
• Primary Examiner(s): JANG, CHRISTIAN YONGKYUN
• Application Number:
  US13/036,783
• Publication Number:
  US 20110301441A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,773 Days
• Field of Search: 600306
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0088 for oral or dental tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0531 Measuring skin impedance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0534 for testing vitality of teeth
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1032 Determining colour for diagnostic purposes measuring colour in general G01J3/46
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/442 Evaluating skin mechanical properties, e.g. elasticity, hardness, texture, wrinkle assessment
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/443 Evaluating skin constituents, e.g. elastin, melanin, water
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/444 Evaluating skin marks, e.g. mole, nevi, tumour, scar
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/445 Evaluating skin irritation or skin trauma, e.g. rash, eczema, wound, bed sore
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4547 Evaluating teeth
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4869 Determining body composition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4875 Hydration status, fluid retention of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7257 using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/50 using electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/508 measuring the colour of teeth
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10152 Varying illumination
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30036 : Dental; Teeth
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30088 : Skin; Dermal
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0016 : involving temporal comparison
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 : ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 : for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 : for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 : for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 : Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to methods and systems for (i) skin assessment based on the utilization of bioimpedance and fractional calculus and implementation of methods for skin hydration assessment based on the utilization of bioimpedance and fractional calculus and systems thereof, (ii) an Opto-Magnetic method based on RGB and gray images data as “cone-rods” principles with enhanced qualitative and quantitative parameters for analyzing water based on Opto-Magnetic properties of light-matter interaction and systems thereof, and (iii) imaging and analyzing skin based on the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation and implementation of an Opto-Magnetic method with enhanced qualitative and quantitative parameters for imaging and analyzing skin based on Opto-Magnetic properties of light-matter interaction and systems thereof.

Claims

1. A method for characterizing an epidermis of a person, the method comprising:

subjecting a first sublayer of the epidermis of the person to optomagnetic fingerprinting, yielding first wavelength difference-intensity data to characterize the first sublayer;

subjecting a second sublayer of the epidermis of the person to optomagnetic fingerprinting, yielding second wavelength difference-intensity data to characterize the second sublayer;

comparing the first wavelength difference-intensity data to wavelength difference-intensity data of other persons from the first sublayer of the epidermis of the other persons;

comparing the second wavelength difference-intensity data to wavelength difference-intensity data of other persons from the second sublayer of the epidermis of the other persons; and

determining at least one of an age and a state of hydration of the person using the steps of comparing.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sublayer comprises a skin surface of a stratum corneum of the epidermis of the person.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second sublayer is selected from the group consisting of:

a non-surface layer of the stratum corneum, layer 1;

a watery layer comprising water from the stratum corneum and at least one water layer from a stratum granulosum of the person, layer 2; and

the stratum granulosum of the person, layer 3.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second sublayer comprises layer 2, reached by removal of the stratum corneum and a portion of the cells of the stratum granulosum.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein optomagnetic fingerprinting comprises:

taking a first image of the first sublayer with non-polarized light;

taking a second image of the first sublayer with polarized light;

generating a normalized red color channel histogram for the first image;

generating a normalized blue color channel histogram for the first image;

generating a normalized red color channel histogram for the second image;

generating a normalized blue color channel histogram for the second image;

generating red color channel spectral plots of the normalized red color channel histograms for the first and second images;

generating blue color channel spectral plots of the normalized blue color channel histograms for the first and second images;

subtracting the spectral plot for the blue color channel for the second image from the spectral plot for the red color channel for the second image to form a red-minus-blue polarized spectral plot (R−

B) (P);

subtracting the spectral plot for the blue color channel for the first image from the spectral plot for the red color channel for the first image to form a red-minus-blue non-polarized spectral plot (R−

B) (W); and

plotting wavelength difference versus intensity for the red-minus-blue polarized spectral plot and the red-minus-blue non-polarized spectral plot to form a red-minus-blue non-polarized/polarized spectral plot (R−

B) (W−

P) for the epidermis of the person.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

testing at least one of the first sublayer and the second sublayer for bioimpedance;

comparing the bioimpedance of the first sublayer or the second sublayer to a bioimpedance level of other persons; and

characterizing the person by an age or a hydration level based on the bioimpedance of the first sublayer or the second sublayer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the bioimpedance of the first sublayer is lower for a younger person than the bioimpedance of the first layer for an older person.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sublayer and the second sublayer are adjacent one another and are in a location selected from the group consisting of an inner arm and a forehead region of a skin surface of the person.