title: An inverse method for the recovery of tissue parameters from colour images.
abstract: The interpretation of colour images is presented as an inverse problem in which a mapping is sought between image colour vectors and the physiological parameters characterizing a tissue. To ensure the necessary one-to-one correspondence between the image colours and the parameters, the mapping must be unique. This can be established through testing the sign of the determinant of the Jacobian matrix, a multi-dimensional equivalent of a discrete derivative, over the space of all parameter values. Furthermore, an optimisation procedure is employed to find the set of filters for image capture which generate image vectors minimizing the mapping error. This methodology applied to interpretation of skin images shows that the standard RGB system of filters provides for a unique mapping between image values and parameters characterizing the normal skin. It is further shown that an optimal set of filters reduces the error of quantification by a factor of 2, on average.
authors.affiliation: School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. e.claridge@cs.bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Claridge
authors.forename: Steve J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Preece
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003116:Color; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D013057:Spectrum Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D013382:Subtraction Technique
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins