Focus stacking in non-contact dermoscopy

authored by: Lennart Jütte, zhiyao yang, Gaurav Sharma, Bernhard Roth
Abstract: Dermoscopy is the main tool for early detection of skin cancer. Non-contact dermoscopes often suffer from a small depth of field leading to images of skin topographies with regions that are not in focus. We aim to provide an easy-to-implement focus stacking-based approach to ensure all-in-focus images from a non-contact dermoscope. Further, we aim to extract additional information about the skin topography from the image stacks. The focus stacking procedure itself is implemented in a non-contact dermoscope with an electrically adjustable focus realized by using a tunable liquid lens. We show that all-in-focus imaging is possible for non-contact dermoscopy and deliver a method to extract topographical information for dermatologists from the acquired image stacks. Our finding indicate that the approach can be valuable for non-contact dermoscopic examination as well as for the early detection of skin diseases such as cancer as it possible to derive hyperfocus images and information on the skin topography. With this, we were able to develop a software for the acquisition of the raw image data and its processing into a high resolution hyperresolution dermoscopic image. In the next steps, we plan to apply the approach in the clinical environment for skin cancer diagnostics or imaging 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: 8
Publication date: 11.2022
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Biophysics, Bioengineering, Biomaterials, Physiology, Biomedical Engineering, Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging, Computer Science Applications, Health Informatics
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1088/2057-1976/ac9847 (Access: Open)