SCHOTT skin counseling system

(Launched Sept 9th 2013) 

SCHOTT skin counseling systems are used by international cosmetic manufacturers as marketing tools. The new i-Scope® Viewer for AndroidTM was developed to achieve a more handy counseling method using tablet computers. The product is now available on Google Play™ (!! Cool!)  in three languages: English, Japanese and Chinese.

i-Scope® Viewer for Android™ is the fitting software for i-Scope® USB 2.0. The program allows users to easily observe their skin conditions in detail: by moving the scope along their skin, shooting images and saving them, comparing two images in one screen or viewing multiple saved images simultaneously. i-Scope® USB 2.0 is a scope equipped with a 1.3 mega CMOS sensor that can be used to observe skin, scalp and hair conditions by connecting the USB cable to a computer. Five lens options are available. 

Features of i-Scope® USB 2.0 Android™ and specification of i-Scope® Viewer for Android™

•Connection: Wired (mini-USB cables sold separately)
•No additional setting necessary on tablet PC; easy connection 
•Stable view of moving pictures 
•Compatible devices: Versions after Android ver. 3.2 are USB host capable (except for some devices) 
•Can check skin conditions by shooting still images 
•Can display two images in one screen. Can check different parts of the skin 
•Can save displayed images 
•Can display multiple saved images 
•Available in English, Japanese and Chinese 

More on the Manufacturer's website here.

3Derm: Engineering undergrads win $100,000 prize for skin imaging device

A team of rising juniors at Yale beat out graduate and undergraduate students from around the country in a national competition to create novel technology for improved healthcare delivery.

Elizabeth Asai, Nick Demas and Elliot Swart won the prize for their development of an early melanoma detection device called a "Stereoscopic Plug-and-Play Dermatoscope and Web Interface." 

Their small, user-friendly, low-cost camera can be used by a doctor or patient to capture and upload 3D pictures to a web-based directory that dermatologists can access to remotely analyze and monitor the topography and volume changes of skin moles.

Next.. they create their company 3Derm:

3Derm combines breakthrough imaging hardware with secure cloud-based software to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.

Congratulations!

The Focus Camera from EXO Labs: Made for iPad

EXO Labs launches a ruggedized microscope Camera that leverages the iPad platform ( with a "free" App) as a control system and image management tool, targeting the K-12 & Higher Education and Lab needs. This $496 Digital Camera (and App)  is a plug and play accessory to any microscope and iPad device. We think this is highly priced (when compared to an iPad or School Microscope), but that is probably going to go down with adoption and volume.


There is a very little technology gap to bridge and expand to Skin or Wound Imaging, and that is why we wanted to quote this system on our Blog.

In any case.. very cool. Congrats to EXO Labs !!

DermaCompare: "designed to revolutionize the process of diagnosing melanoma" (...Really ?)

Out of Israel, DermaCompare, a market-centric spin off from Esmeral Medical, is promoting a Cloud-based sophisticated image processing technology fro skin imaging. The skin lesions detection software solution is designed to revolutionize the process of diagnosing  melanoma, the major cause of skin cancer related mortality. 

DermaCompare supports early stage diagnosis of skin cancer by providing constant monitoring of suspicious skin lesions using various  imaging methods, thereby significantly increasing the chances of treating the condition, as well as lowering the cost and complexity of treatment.


The product is not FDA approved and detailed information / case studies / performance of the system is not very accessible. We would love to know more ( leave a comment).

Their YouTube clip provides some fuzzy screen captures, some insights on the technology platform ( " we use aerial defense technology to save 420 million people from skin cancer") but does not discuss clinical efficacy nor business models. 

Wide-field Fluorescent and Darkfield Imaging on a cell-phone

UCLA researchers have developed a matchbox-sized attachment that converts a cell phone's camera into a fluorescent microscope. The device utilizes an inexpensive lens and battery-powered, light-emitting diodes to create a field of view some two orders of magnitude larger than previous cell-phone fluorescent microscopy technology.

It is more than five times smaller than previous cell phone microscopes.

By using side-illumination geometry, the device is also capable of dark-field microscopy on both fluorescent and non-fluorescent specimens, an illumination technique in which only light shown on a biological sample is captured, making it appear as if the sample is on a black background and enhancing the image. The side-illumination technique negates the need for more expensive thin-film interference filters typically used in fluorescent microscopy; an inexpensive plastic color filter can be used for this purpose.

Full publication here, with possible applications in Skin Imaging

Dermanest's 2013 Skin Imaging Industry Report:

Today Dermanest releases its 2013 Skin Imaging Industry Report.  The full report contains 42 pages (see table of content below) and is available on request (complimentary copies) at info@dermanest.com

 The goal of this work, developed in collaboration with DermaNest's partner TRI-Princeton, is to track the emergence of new imaging technologies that can be applied to skin and wound imaging. 

Since our last report in August 2012, we have added 17 new products to our survey (almost doubled), and included deep vein / vascularization imaging in addition to skin and wound.

Skin imaging has begun to move towards smartphone or tablet enabled technologies. The field of mobile imaging systems contains areas including smartphone accessories and enhanced software, allowing for improved mobile images an increasingly sophisticated analysis of the photos, which is performed either on the tablets ( with limited performance and questionable outcomes) or on the cloud with virtually unlimited capabilities for image management and data processing, including Artificial Intelligence based-algorithms that could offset the limited optical capabilities ( … for now) of Smart Phones. Interesting compromises are proposed by manufacturer who offer smart phone accessories coupled to Downloadable apps.

We expect an enormous development in the Smartphone optics in 2013-14. The ready-to launch iPhone 5S already brings a much more on-board camera, and there are many enhancing accessories hitting the market. In addition, several academic institutions and focusing their capabilities to innovate in the Mobile Microscopy field, which will be of very high relevance to applied skin care.

Table of Contents and List of Products

1)      Introduction  5

2)      Technologies Stratification  5

i)      In the USA  10

1.          Canfield Imaging Systems  12

2.          Enhanced Image Technologies  15

3.          DermLite  15

4.          Moritex and BrighTex Bio-Photonics  17

5.          Mobile solutions by BrighTex Bio-Photonics  17

6.          Profect Medical Technologies  18

7.          Caliber ( ex-Lucid) 18

8.          Christie Medical 19

9.          AccuVein  19

10.       VasaMed  20

11.       Wound Zoom   21

12.       Wound Matrix  21

13.       Emage  22

14.       TRUE-see Systems  22

15.       MyOwn  23

16.       SkinVision : Your Lifetime Skin Companion  24

ii)     In Europe, Australia, and Canada  25

17.       Courage + Khazaka electronic GmbH   27

18.       FotoFinder  28

19.       BME  29

20.       Astron Clinica  30

21.       Michelson Diagnostics  31

22.       Eykona Wound Measurement System   32

23.       Silhouette by Aranz  32

24.       SIMSYS  33

25.       MOWA  33

26.       Dr. Mole  34

27.       AVEAL  34

28.       Skinlabs  35

iii)         SmartPhone Optics Enhancing Devices. 36

29.       CellScope and iPadScope  36

3)      Discussion and observations  37

4)      References  40

Mobile Microscopy: CellScope and iPadScope

At the Fletcher Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, has designed equipment to turn the camera of a standard cell phone into a diagnostic-quality microscope with a magnification of 5x-60x. Cell-phone microscopy enables visualization of samples, followed by capture, organization, and transmission of images critical for diagnosis. This technology is applicable in a wide range of applications beyond diagnostic medicine. The team has developed a suite of devices to image everything from sub-micron bacteria to the surface of the eye.

See” Cell-phone Based Platform for Biomedical Device Development and Education Applications” where “we report the development of two attachments to a commercial cell phone that transform the phone's integrated lens and image sensor into a 350× microscope and visible-light spectrometer. The microscope is capable of transmission and polarized microscopy modes and is shown to have 1.5 micron resolution and a usable field-of-view of 150×150 microns^2 with no image processing, and approximately 350×350 microns^2 when post-processing is applied. “

First iPad App with real-time computer vision technology to assess moles

Purpose of device: Management and Identification of Malignant moles

Main application: Personal Use

 “DoctorMole uses advanced real-time computer vision technology to scan your moles in real time and give you instant risk feedback on Asymmetry, Border, Color, Diameter and Risk (ABCDE). It is quick and easy to use and allows you to save any photo you have taken to compare for evolution changes at a later stage.

+ Automatically scans moles in real-time

+ Detailed analysis provided to cover the (ABCDE) risks on your scanned mole

+ Save as many photos as you like

DoctorMole is the first app to use real-time computer vision technology to help in the assessment of your moles. This allows the user to easily take a photo of the desired target mole accurately with the correct lighting and distance. All the calculations are done on the phone so your results are instant and your data is safe. At any point you can review all your photos and their results and make comparisons between your moles at different times.”

MOWA: an Mobile / iPad Wound Analyzer

Purpose of device: Management of pressure ulcers

Main application: Health Professionals

 
“MOWA - Mobile Wound Analyzer - is an application for advanced management of pressure ulcers, diabetes and vascular disease. I

t is a sophisticated and practical software for analyze images of ulcers and may also be useful as a reference manual and guide for post -visual evaluation

Wound Matrix: a web-based Mobile Wound measurement App

Purpose of device:  Smartphone enabled camera to measure wound size.

Main application: Personal Use

Price range: Unknown

“WoundMatrix offers an easy to use Enterprise Web-Based Mobile Wound Management solution available in the Verizon-Terremark Health Enabled Cloud. The solution combines secure Smartphone digital image capture/transfer technology with digital wound measurement tools that yield significant healthcare savings. The system precisely measures the surface area of wounds to eliminate measurement variability and to provide standardized measurements.”

MyOwn App: A Fake App to Measure and track your skin's Health

My Own introduces a free app to support the sale of their product line of "pure, effective anti-aging skin care" products.
The app is positioned to perforrn in 3 steps:

Step1: Take your photo. The My Own app will take it from there, using facial recognition and clinical technology to measure your signs of aging. The analysis only takes a few minutes (see our comments below)

Step2: The My Own app builds a detailed map of six signs of aging: fine lines, deep wrinkles, crow's feet, age spot count and visibility. Then, every 30 days, take a new picture, and MyOwn will track your skin's progress.

Step 3: Based on your information, My Own gives you custom product recommendations, plus meaningful tips for skin care, lifestyle and overall health. It's the knowledge you need to give yourself beautiful, young looking skin that lasts"

The App is free, and only for iPhones. We are very skeptic about the quality and relevance of the entire imaging + treatment. "use the back camera for most accurate measurements"... does not make sense (how do you shoot at yourself with the back camera ?). Also, color calibration is not realistic, as "get in the best light" ... and "add white marker, shirt, headband" are just not realistic ways to create a solid and consistent assessment process.

And you need to "upload your photo" for treatment. Not sure we like that !

In any case, another good example of the interest of the convergence of technologies towards a more "personalized skin care".

Skin Analysis on your Mobile Phone

BrighTex Bio-Photonics brings a portable device to Analyze Acne, Fine line Wrinkles, Deep line Wrinkles, Redness, Age Spots and more on all a mobile phone or with the web cam.

Your Client will be a click away for the product recommendations personalized to their skin analysis results, and experience an enhanced "Point of Sales" experience

DermLine Dl3 with Phone

The extremely compact DermLite FOTO integrates 3Gen's state-of-the-art cross-polarization system, 24 bright-white light emitting diodes (LEDs) for natural illumination, and a high quality four-element compound lens to create an epiluminescence microscopy imaging system capable of capturing skin lesion images with superb clarity and detail. You can combine it with any digital camera, video camcorder or commercially available SLR camera. DermLite FOTO is entirely portable.” It can be used to analyze redness, veins, wrinkles, pores sun and vascular skin damage

Purpose of device: imaging of skin lesions on any body surface

Main application: medical practices

Price range: $1150