People have long been encouraged to take photographs for reasons of comparison. Although the difference between age spots and moles are not visible to an untrained home-user, moles grow and the age spot cannot grow. Therefore, the layperson does not need to be able to diagnose the difference. All they have to detect is a lesion getting larger.
The challenge is not in the ability of doctors diagnosing individual moles, but the gross problem of having patients unable to discover the suspicious lesions when they are located where they cannot be seen. This is most of the body when looking for pale lesions. In their early stages, melanomas can be blond. The purpose is not to diagnose but to focus the end-users attention on possible melanomas and give them documentation of growth that may allow them to receive earlier treatment.
Prior art is also what occurs in the 15 minutes doctors skin inspection. Size of lesions larger than 6 mm or one-quarter of an inch is used to indicate growth. This method does not require growth to that size before the suspicion of likely melanoma because growth can be quantitatively demonstrated to the dermatologist. The patient's vague anecdotal recollections of previous size are not always given credence. This evidence forms a basis for the dermatologists to remove the pre-melanoma earlier since the existence of a rapidly changing mole is a strong indicator of melanoma. Moles in contact with a scanner's glass platen are automatically at the same scale, unlike photographs.
Handheld scanners intended for dermatologists are expensive for home-users. If a patient is not in possession of their own data, their baseline may be unavailable in 20 years. Handheld spot-only scanners for consumers do not document bare mole-free areas. None of the prior art that only documents and analyzes lesion-by-lesion offers this advantage. Many moles generally are found on skin with no pre-existing mole.
Photo enclosures do whole-body scans but are not a home-user solution. This embodiment is not as quick, but some people may prefer it since it is less expensive, less intrusive and more private. Suspicious lesions can be monitored frequently at very high magnification at any time. The baseline record does not depend on finding the same business decades later.
The difference between this and fractal analysis, fractal analysis is not making a record of the entire body for baseline purposes. It diagnoses a particular mole as melanoma or non-melanoma. This prior art does not function as a baseline record, nor as a body wide survey of the current condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,415,143 uses a computer to scan for irregular growth. Selfscan uses fractal analysis. This method images and leaves detection to the user and diagnosis to their dermatologist; it may generate more found suspicious lesions for submission to these services.
Cameras
The FAQs on the website of DermAlert (U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063) states that the method cannot be done without a partner. This makes sense since a partner is required to align the images in the camera's viewfinder. A person cannot be in front of and behind a camera at the same time. Since the scanner method can be done solo, this shows that it is not a direct substitution.
With a scanner, only one person is required to align his or her own body. The scanner allows solo usage because the person does not need to be both behind and in front of the device at the same time. Since one method requires two people and the other requires only one person, it cannot be considered to be done in the same way. Another difference is that the image on the viewfinder does not become part of the camera's digital image. Whereas U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063's semi-transparent image on a scanner would become part of the digital image obscuring the skin. This is a different result. Taking photographs of moles has a long history in the traditional method.
The camera methods require calibration, scaling, between the baseline and current, while the scanner does not because it innately scans the images at the same scale.
Another problem with the camera for a solo user is the foreshortening.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 describes downloading from the camera to the computer. A scanner does not download because it is integral with the computer system. Its images are not stored on a memory card from which it needs to be downloaded. The information from the scanner goes directly into the computer's 1 memory 108 without being subjected to lossy JPG compression. This is why such very high-resolution images and large non-compressed non-lossy files are possible with the scanner.
COMPRESSION. JPG is a lossy format. A faint yellowish blond pre-melanoma, or its fractal dots, may be lost as a subtle difference during a camera's compression to the JPG file format. JPG compression is designed to look for light/dark contrast appropriate for landscapes and portraits. Camera manufacturers try to store as many photos per storage card as possible. Amateur cameras automatically compress into lossy jpgs in order to load many images on to the card in the camera. Therefore, even if a camera offers a TIFF or bitmap option often that is just a change of format from a JPEG that has already degraded (blurred) the details of the image. Many cameras' software does not even offer the option to convert to TIFF or bitmaps. What is of interest here is the details not the overall image. Subtle color shifts differentiate pale-blond colored pre-melanomas from the skin color. Simplification could obscure fractal patterns at the edges.
The method of U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 requires alignment for each mole on the view thereby realigning and rotating these lossy jpg images many times. Each alignment degrades the image further, whereas the scan taken natively as a bitmap does not degrade from realignment.
Better Magnification.
The scanner can produce higher resolution images so this is a different result. The high-resolution images give better magnification which is very important for people with reduced visual acuity. An advantage of scanners over cameras is that they optionally allow just a small rectangle to be scanned. This reduces the detail's file size, yet allows magnification. The 4× magnification is very useful for a suspicious mole with a developing fractal pattern at its edges. This is a very bad sign. A fractal pattern is an organized “scattered” pattern of dots. The size of the dots is a third of the size of a period or larger. If the pre-melanoma is pale-blond, these tiny dots are blond too. This makes them harder to see. As the melanoma forms, tiny precise pinpricks of jet black can appear. The high-risk age group, middle aged to elderly, typically includes those with bad close vision. Even old scanners can be set to scan at higher samples per inch (i.e. more magnification) than even people with visual acuity problems would need. Although most users would not choose to use such very high resolution for all scans, it is helpful to have that option for suspected lesions
FIG. 1 shows the overlaid outlines of three images taken by a 12-megapixel camera, a scanner at 300 spi, and a scanner at 1200 spi. All are shown at 100% resolution. The true size of the mole is shown to the left. Note the camera view (as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063's back of a standing person) tries to shoot a large area so that those 12 megapixels have to cover many square inches of skin. The images seem larger on a monitor only because it is a coarse surface like a mosaic or a rough impressionist canvas, which only seems as good as a photo because we view it from a distance.
If the scanner were set to only 300 spi (samples per inch), it would print a full size photo at 100% magnification. A 3.2 mm or ⅛-inch mole would be shown as 3.2 mm or ⅛ inch in the printed photo.
If the scanner were set to 1200 spi, it would print a full size photo at 400% magnification. A 3.2 mm or ⅛-inch mole would be shown as 12.8 mm or a half-inch in the printed photo. That 2.54 cm or one inch of skin would appear on that monitor as 31.8 cm or 12.5 inches. The scanner allows just a small rectangle to be scanned. This is useful for a suspicious mole with a developing fractal pattern at its edges or for the visually impaired. Many scanners can be set to scan at higher samples per inch (i.e. more magnification) than even people with visual acuity problems would need. Although most users would not choose to use such very high resolution for all scans, it is helpful to have that option for suspected lesions.
View Confusion.
When the pre-melanomas are pale yellow instead of black, they can get lost in the confusion of an overly large complex image. What if a camera tried to take scan-sized images? Using cameras to take close-up photos of body parts to improve resolution, at the risk of overexposure, loses the context of the body part. Not all images contain a frame of reference. For example: a section of a forearm. FIG. 2. Even though software in U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063 names the image file, it is up to the user to sort and identify the image.
If one tried to shoot too close trying to get a scan size image, the flash could wash out the exposure and the details of moles, as well as entire pale moles, could disappear. The scanner has a less bright light on the scanning head that moves with the scanner's internal camera, preventing it from overexposing the image. Professional cameras with controlled lighting such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,359,748 high-resolution cameras probably give excellent results. However, this is not a solo home-user solution. Home-user solutions must consider the typical knowledge of photography and the effects of close flash exposure by the home-user. Automatic exposure on camera is not intended to feature spots on skin but of faces and landscapes.
MIRROR CONFUSION is shown in FIG. 3. When a monitor displays the front view of a shoulder then the image appears to represent the opposite shoulder. If the user went to a mirror to compare, they would compare the body part from the wrong side. FIG. 3. The body part may not be identifiable since people are used to looking in mirrors. Seeing oneself on a computer display one subconsciously anticipates the image one would see looking into a mirror. The body part may not be recognizable since people are used to looking in mirrors. Is it the right arm or the left arm? If a surface, is it the outer surfaces or the inner surface? This is true with a camera image also. Even contextual views may not help camera users if taking the front or sides of the body. FIG. 2. Then the right arm is shown on the left side. From the back view, the right arm is on the right side. FIG. 3.
Professional workers do not find the location on the body using mirrors, so the unlabeled images are not confusing to them. Unexpected difficulties of recognizing left or right side body parts when imaged from the front and sides is an unexpected problem for home-users accustomed to mirrors.
For a front view, they see the right side of their body displayed on the left half of the screen rather than a mirror that would display the left half on that same side of the mirror. When taking an image of the back the right side of the body will appear on the right half of the display. For different views, the orientation will change. This can be very confusing for users of digital images taken by cameras or scanners.
It is necessary for the user to be able to locate actual locations on the body from these images. They need to inspect the original site, and to point it out to the doctor. However, baseline and current images can be compared for growth without any reference to actual location. A person cannot look directly at many portions of the body. These they can only see in a mirror. When a monitor displays a front view of a shoulder then the image appears to represent the opposite shoulder. If the user went to a mirror to compare, they would compare the body part from the wrong side.
Further confusion: some body parts such as forearms or hands are compared without mirrors since they can be seen directly. This is confusing if one tried using a mnemonic such as ‘back views seem normal, but front & side views seem reversed’.
This confusion could also be partially solved by automatically converting images to mirrored images for only the views the user would need to use a mirror to see. However, this has the disadvantage of producing confusing images for the dermatologist who would not be using a mirror.
Advantages
Unique difficulties that the method solves are:
Solo operation to image areas the solo user cannot see or photograph. It eliminates the need for a second person, the photographer, in an embarrassing situation. Parts of the body that cannot be seen directly can be easily scanned.
The unusual method of using the scanner makes it easier and quicker than expected.
It solves the need to make affordable, high quality, scaled images and to be able to do it solo at home and as frequently as desired.
This method solves an unrecognized problem. The prior art camera methods' images are not easily recognized on a computer monitor because people are used to using mirrors. It is the old “my left or your left” conversation when standing face-to-face. To compensate camera views must show only the back view for Left-Right uniformity. To show body context they are forced to show large areas of the body. These distant views reduce the possible magnification. This method allows higher magnification close-ups that avoid body part confusion. FIG. 2.
Unlike cameras, it utilizes the scanner's inherently self-scaled images that are independent of user error. This is reliable proof of growth the dermatologist can trust.
It is an affordable in-home method in a field of mostly large expensive professional devices.
It allows a high-risk home-user, to monitor their own skin on their own schedule.
Using a scanner instead of a camera provides an option for very high-resolution images that can be displayed greatly magnified on-screen for people with visual problems.
The home-user has the advantage of deciding which scans to do. They feel empowered by being in control of the process.
This meets the long felt need for solo in-home operation offering privacy, convenience, and private long-term access to the baseline images. It avoids the need to be photographed in scanty clothing by a friend. It avoids the need to coordinate schedules with that friend.
This method allows for solo operation whereas camera methods do not.
Practical and affordable body digital images for solo home-users. In the High-risk middle age to elderly age group, a partner may not exist. The older user may not feel comfortable being photographed in scanty clothing by a friend or a child.
This method allows for aligned imaging of areas that would not be possible for the solo individual with a camera. These areas include:
The front, back and sides of the torso,
The back and sides of the thighs,
The back of the calves,
Front, back and sides of the upper arms,
Back of the neck,
Front and sides of face.
A method using an economical standard flatbed document scanner that people may already own.
Document scanners older than 10 years old have excellent resolutions and features. Even old scanners have the option of at least 1200 dpi, which have excellent resolution FIG. 1.
Mirror Confusion and View Confusion Aids.
This solo home method meets the needs of the high-risk users: diagnosed melanoma patients, the middle aged, and the elderly. Diagnosed patients require four times more frequent monitoring by their dermatologist due to their increased risk of forming additional melanomas. This disease tends to strike people 40 and older when close visual acuity declines.
Advantages over the two mirror solo home method:
Presents adequate magnification of almost all skin even if not directly visible. Thereby compensating for any loss of near vision to see fractal patterns and irregular edges, mimicking a high quality magnifying glass. In addition, this magnification is applied not only spot by spot, but the comparison between baseline and current images can be displayed at great magnification. This makes it easy to examine the entire body at magnification in a timely manner, rather than laboriously using a magnifying glass to focus on the entire surface.
For visual inspection of areas that cannot be viewed directly, it is recommended to use a mirror. However, by viewing in a mirror, one views from a distance equal to the distance to the mirror plus from the mirror, which is too far for close examination. It is difficult to compare previous size taken at a different distance between mirrors. The innate size calibration of the scanner, independent of user error, eliminates the need to guesstimate the size of moles when using a magnifying glass with a distant wall mirror.
Compensates for memory loss in remembering previous size, or even if mole previously existed, or false memory of previous existence during last inspection. The traditional two-mirror method makes it impossible to judge size changes. The two mirrors are held at different distances resulting in different size reflections. A 6-month-old memory of the size of a reflection of a mole may not be accurate.
In not directly visible areas: Loss of agility to use mirrors, or only distant views in mirrors, are a problem. As is difficulty to focus mirrors with magnification for each lesion. In this age group, a partner may not exist, or their eyesight or memory may be not any better.
Documents Mole-free Areas. All surfaces including bare skin without moles are imaged. Since most people over 18 years form few, if any, new benign moles, the images function as an inventory of pre-existing moles and their sizes, shape, color, and edges. In addition, they are an inventory of areas that contained no moles. Approximately one-third of melanomas form from skin with no moles. Spot by spot methods which only examine moles in isolation, do not document areas of skin that are free of moles.
Another embodiment records only baseline views. These act as a baseline reference even without continued scanning in order to identify future formation of melanomas even decades later. Since the images include areas that could not be viewed directly, the observer without this historical reference would have no remembrances of previous size, or even whether a mole previously existed, or whether they have a false memory of a previous existence. Demonstrated growth is an important symptom for Physicians.
Data Permanence
Data Permanence is another feature that is unique over all other prior art for digital images aligned with baseline images. This method creates baseline images that will probably be durable over decades despite changing operating systems. The data is in the possession of the home-user. The baseline images are standard common file formats that the user can convert to new file formats, along with their other data, if the old file format becomes obsolete. The images can be manipulated in a manual mode with basic simple operating system functions, which may change syntax, but will probably always exist. There is a manual method independent of any particular operating system. Some of the other prior art sells CDs of customer's data to them for storage; however the customer independently cannot create more for comparison. Therefore, the images would not be aligned. Others, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,063, use computer programs to sort, rename, and display but describe no manual method. A person's baseline may be made when they are eighteen and they may still be using that same baseline when they are 60. In the intervening years, they may not have felt themselves to be at sufficient risk to make any current comparisons. They may find themselves at age 60 discovering a lesion and wanting to check if that existed decades earlier.
Unlike spot-by-spot methods, the comparison method does not require identifying individual moles. This makes it faster to inspect the images, which makes it practical to inspect the entire surface of the body. It not only compares existing moles, but also verifies mole-free areas (in which one-third of melanomas develop) are still mole free.
The Ignored Scanner
If a device in contact with the skin such as a flatbed document scanner is so good for this, why did the prior art not use this before? It is because a person is not a sheet of paper. They are heavy, not as thin as a piece of paper and cannot easily hover above a flatbed document scanner, which will chatter if too much weight is applied. Prior Art in US20020065456 does not use this type of flatbed document scanner for other than the few obvious lightweight, easily positioned parts: hands, only two sides of the forearm, and the face. This is because other body parts would cause the flatbed document scanner to lug the motor, strip gears, produce unrecognizable images, or otherwise damage the flatbed document scanner. In addition, it would require bizarre body positions not suitable for older high-risk individuals.
One might think to enclose the flatbed document scanner in a protective case. However, unless that case were as big as a bed that would be a painful and slow way to scan the outer side of an upper thigh. A bed-sized case would not be practical for a home-user.
Some prior art uses a flatbed document scanner to create digital images from film photos or photo prints. This does not have the advantages of this method because: unless it is a professional quality close-up 8×10 film photo, it would not contain the same information as a true scan. Even then, the magnification would be limited. If it is a printed up version of a digital camera it has the same low quality image problems as the original. FIG. 1.
This is not a simple adaptation of the traditional recommendation to patients to periodically take photos for inspection.
Most flatbed document scanners 13 must be used in very different ways not mentioned in the prior art using cameras. In addition, a flatbed document scanner can produce different results not possible with a camera. Most significantly, it is what allows one person solo to take aligned images of parts of their body they cannot even see. In addition, camera close-up images are difficult to interpret for orientation while the flatbed document scanner can provide easily sorted unambiguous close-ups. This method of the first embodiment sounds easy and obvious, but some difficulties that it solves are:
It is hard to figure out how to scan some difficult views of one's body solo. Furthermore, those must be safe and convenient positions for people over 40.
Views need to be consistent for body position and for alignment. That is much more difficult than it would seem.
A unique feature quickly informs the occasional home-user how to scan consistent images of each view of the body.
This consistency allows these images to be taken in “good enough” alignment for rapid checking. If not carefully aligned a few may need one conventional photo editing software alignment to allow for rapid inspection. Verses multiple realignments required for images of large portions of the body containing a confusing multitude of lesions.
A seeming disadvantage of the first embodiment is one scans more views than if one stood back with a camera. However, this is actually an advantage for these reasons. When one includes too much information in a picture, one reduces the resolution of the skin in that image and can no longer zoom in to see detail. In addition, it is a very difficult to align hands, forearm, upper arm, and both sides in one image. In taking images of large areas of the body, it is hard to know if one has every view angle of arms and legs. By having more views, the problem of realigning digital images is reduced. Realigning a digital image takes longer than making a scan.
The method of the first embodiment uses a flatbed document scanner 13. Solo home-users can align and examine moles they cannot directly see. The advantage of this is the scale is innately calibrated by the flatbed document scanner 13. Thus, growth of lesions can be detected over time by the non-medical user. Therefore, the user can seek earlier preventive treatment.