This first clinical trial with SIAscopy has yielded very promising results and delivers new, useful information to the clinician diagnosing pigmented skin lesions.

A model of colour formation within human skin has been developed to aid the characterisation of pigmented skin lesions from their digitized colour images. The model is based on the Kublenka-Munk theory of scattering and absorption within inhomogeneous materials and the physics pertaining to their colour properties. By considering the skin to be a layered construction of such materials, the stratum corneum, epidermis, papillary dermis and reticular dermis, and by exploiting the physics related to the optical interface between these layers, the model generates all possible colours occurring within normal human skin. In particular, the model predicts that all skin colours have to lie on a simple curved surface patch within a three-dimensional colour space bounded by two physiologically meaningful axes, one corresponding to the amount of melanin within the epidermis and the other to the amount of blood within the dermis. These predictions were verified by comparing the CIE LMS coordinates of a representative, cross-racial sample of fifty skin images with the LMS coordinates predicted by the model. The results show that, within the predicted error bounds, the coordinates for normal skin colours do indeed lie on the curved surface generated by the model. Several possible applications of this representation are outlined, including images representing the melanin and blood components separately, as well as the possibility of measuring the Breslow thickness of melanocytic invasion within malignant melanoma.

Abstract. Through an understanding of the image formation process, diagnostically important facts about the internal structure and composition of the skin lesions can be derived from their colour images. A physics-based model of tissue colouration provides a cross-reference between image colours and the underlying histological parameters. This approach was successfully applied to the analysis of images of pigmented skin lesions. Histological parametric maps showing the concentration of dermal and epidermal melanin, blood and collagen thickness across the imaged skin have been used to aid early detection of melanoma. A clinical study on a set of 348 pigmented lesions showed 80.1% sensitivity and 82.7% specificity.

Through an understanding of the image formation process, diagnostically important facts about the internal structure and composition of the skin lesions can be derived from their colour images. A physics-based model of tissue colouration provides a cross-reference between image colours and the underlying histological parameters. This approach was successfully applied to the analysis of images of pigmented skin lesions. Histological parametric maps showing the concentration of dermal and epidermal melanin, blood and collagen thickness across the imaged skin have been used to aid early detection of melanoma. A clinical study on a set of 348 pigmented lesions showed 80.1% sensitivity and 82.7% specificity.

Recent studies highlighted the beneficial effects of a novel electrical stimulation waveform, the degenerate wave (DW), on skin fibroblasts and symptomatic skin scarring. However, no study to date has investigated the role of DW on acute cutaneous wounds. Therefore, we evaluated this in a trial using a temporal punch biopsy model. Twenty healthy volunteers had a biopsy performed on day 0 (left arm) and day 14 (right arm). On day 14, DW was applied. Participants were randomised into two groups. Objective non-invasive assessments were performed on days 0, 7, 14, 60 and 90 using spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis and full-field laser perfusion imaging. There were statistically significant increases in mean flux on day 14 (P = 0.027) in the post-DW arm. Haemoglobin levels increased on day 7 for the post-DW arm compared to without DW (P = 0.088). Differences in melanin levels were higher post-DW on the left arm between randomised groups on day 90 (P = 0.033). Haemoglobin levels in the vascular ring increased significantly from day 7 to 90 (P < 0.001 for post-DW and without DW arms). This study, for the first time, shows that DW increases blood flow and haemoglobin levels in acute healing wounds without affecting wound closure time and may have potential application in enhancing acute cutaneous healing.