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

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.”

WoundZoom

Purpose of device:  High-precision wound measurement device

Main application: medical practices

Price range: Unknown

“The Wound Zoom system is a hand-held device similar to a digital camera or smart phone. The main components are a camera module and four angled lasers that work together with mathematical algorithms to provide accurate measurements. These four lasers deliver critical data to the system, providing the camera’s relationship to the wound (skew and distance). After booting the unit, the user follows a simple work flow: entering basic information for themselves and the patient (a minimum of a user and patient ID is required). Next, the user has the option of taking several photographs of the wound for documentation. Finally, the lasers activate and the user captures an image of the wound for dimension calculations. Using a stylus, the user traces their defined wound border on the device and it instantly calculates the length, width and area. A PDF report is generated and stored on the device which can then be transferred to a computer through USB. ”

VasaMed: Wound Imaging and SmartDraw

Purpose of device:  Documentation of skin breakdown, ulcers and wound size

Main application: medical practices

Price range: Unknown

"Accurate, consistent and regular measurement and imaging of a wound is vital in objectively describing the progress of wound healing. Tracking wound size can assist in selecting and modifying treatment regimens.  Documentation of skin breakdown, ulcers and wound size is also important in terms of insurance coverage and litigation. It is standard practice to include monitoring the size of the wound at regular intervals. Wound measurement systems range from simple tape measure to complex imaging equipment.  To be clinically useful, wound measurement systems should be accurate and reproducible, permit quick assessment, use any camera, minimize the potential for contamination, and be cost-effective."

NvisionVLE : 3mm deep at < 10 microns

Having received FDA appropriate clearances,NinePoint Medical is now making available in the U.S. its NvisionVLE esophageal tissue imaging system. The device provides a cross-sectional view of the tissue microstructure thanks to something called OFDI (optical frequency-domain imaging), a type of  Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT).


The NvisionVLE Imaging System enables physicians and pathologists to endoscopically view real-time, high-resolution, cross sectional images of organs and tissues up to 3mm deep at better than 10 micron resolution.

Instead of a balloon + rotary scanning motion, perhaps a portable flexible flat-rectangular scanner  ( 6cm x 6cm) could be developed for skin applications ?

TRUE-See to launch an Integrated Wound Image Calibration Module in Summer 2013

Using established movie industry standards, TRUE-See’s unique, patent-pending system improves the accuracy and reliability of a picture by calibrating the colors in the slate so they more accurately reflect what was photographed. The System thereby helps resolve common wound photography problems that contribute to misdiagnosis, erroneous patient care, increased liability, and ineffective marketing efforts. 

A similar approach could be considered for POS skin imaging, with disposable and branded "stickers", which introduces the concept of "disposable" accessories required to improve or resolve the image acquisition / standardization nightmare for skin imaging.

True-see has just partnered with Net Health, a certified Electronic Health Record utilized by over 20,000 healthcare professionals in + 1,100 facilities.

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