Improved polarimetric analysis of human skin through stitching

advantages, limitations, and applications in dermatology

authored by

Lennart Jütte, Harshkumar Patel, Bernhard Roth

Abstract

Polarimetry is a powerful tool for the analysis of the optical properties of materials and systems, such as human skin. However, in many polarimetric setups, the field of view is limited to a few square centimeters. In these cases, it is possible to resort to stitching techniques, which involve combining multiple Mueller matrix measurements obtained from different overlapping regions of the sample. In this paper, we propose a stitching technique for polarimetric data and discuss its advantages and limitations. We also describe the potential of image stitching for improving the accuracy and robustness of in vivo polarimetry in the presence of random patient movement. We conducted our research using a diverse set of samples which included porcine skin, human skin from arms and fingers, cold cuts of chicken and gelatine, alongside synthetically created sample data. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for the application in dermatology. Each additional in vivo measurement enhances the field of view by approximately one third, thereby considerably augmenting the total observation area. We show that stitching enables for the polarimetric assessment of large skin patches which is useful for the diagnosis of inflammatory skin diseases.

Organisation(s)

Hannover Centre for Optical Technologies (HOT)
PhoenixD: Photonics, Optics, and Engineering - Innovation Across Disciplines

Type

Article

Journal

Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express

Volume

10

No. of pages

22

Publication date

30.11.2023

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nursing(all)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/ad0e87 (Access: Open)