System and method for examining, recording and analyzing dermatological conditions
First Claim
1. A hand-held unit for facilitating the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin comprisinga hand-held case,a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case,an imaging device in the case for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, andat least two cones attachable to the front of said case each havinga transparent window for bearing against an area of skin,each of said cones serving a different function and having properties different from the other cones, but all cones positioning their respective windows at the same distance from said imaging device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for collecting, storing and displaying dermatological images for the purpose of monitoring and diagnosis of skin conditions and skin cancers, including melanoma. A hand-held unit illuminates a section of the patient'"'"'s skin, and an imaging device generates imaging signals from light derived from a skin section. Pairs of light output ports in the hand-held unit are arranged such that their intensity distributions overlap at their half-intensity levels so that the resulting summation of their intensities has a flat central region. Three image stores are maintained, one for lesion images, one for “nearby skin” images, and one for reference-white images. The “nearby skin” images are used by the system software to automatically determine the skin/lesion border. The reference white images are used to set the dynamic range of the instrument and to compensate for lighting irregularities. Two images of the same lesion taken at different times may be displayed simultaneously so that changes in the lesion may be determined. The calibration system is designed so that image data taken on any of multiple machines built to the same specification will be corrected back to a common reference standard to ensure absolute accuracy in colour rendition.
204 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A hand-held unit for facilitating the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin comprising
a hand-held case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, an imaging device in the case for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, and at least two cones attachable to the front of said case each having a transparent window for bearing against an area of skin, each of said cones serving a different function and having properties different from the other cones, but all cones positioning their respective windows at the same distance from said imaging device.
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21. A hand-held unit for facilitating the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin comprising
a hand-held case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, an imaging device in the case for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, and at least two different cones having different functions attachable to the front of said case each having a transparent window of the same thickness for bearing against an area of skin, said at least two different cones positioning their respective windows at the same distance from said imaging device.
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23. A cone for a hand-held unit that facilitates the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin, said hand-held unit having
a case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, and an imaging device for generating an imaging signal from light derived from said area of skin, said cone having a transparent window at the front thereof with a plurality of reference targets of known colours on an outer surface that bears against the skin of a patient, said cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a removable reference material thereon.
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25. A cone for a hand-held unit that facilitates the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin, said hand-held unit having
a case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, and an imaging device for generating an imaging signal from light derived from said area of skin, said cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a transparent window at the front thereof with a plurality of reference targets of known colours on an outer surface that bears against the skin of a patient.
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26. A cone for a hand-held unit that facilitates the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin, said hand-held unit having
a case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, and an imaging device for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, said cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a transparent window at the front thereof whose thickness is at least 5 millimeters for bearing against the skin of a patient.
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28. A hand-held unit for facilitating the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin comprising
a hand-held case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, an imaging device in the case for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, and at least two cones attachable to the front of said case each having a transparent window for bearing against an area of skin, each of said cones serving a different function and having properties different from the other cones, but all cones positioning their respective windows at the same distance from said imaging device, wherein at least one cone has multiple colours around its transparent window permanently in the field of view of said imaging device to aid in the calibration of said imaging device.
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47. A hand-held unit for facilitating the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin comprising
a hand-held case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, an imaging device in the case for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, and at least two different cones having different functions attachable to the front of said case each having at least one cone having a transparent window at the front thereof with a plurality of reference targets of known colours on an outer surface that bears against the skin of a patient, said one cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a removable reference material thereon, and said at least two different cones positioning their respective windows at the same distance from said imaging device.
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49. A cone for a hand-held unit that facilitates the imaging of an area of a patient'"'"'s skin, said hand-held unit having
a case, a source of light inside the case for directing light toward the front of the case, and an imaging device for generating imaging signals from light derived from said area of skin, said cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a transparent window at the front thereof with a plurality of reference targets of known colours on an outer surface that bears against the skin of a patient, said cone being attachable to the front of said case and having a removable reference material thereon, said transparent window having a thickness that is at least 5 millimeters for bearing against the skin of a patient.
Specification