A vision-based technique for objective assessment of burn scars

• Published in: IEEE transactions on medical imaging Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 620 - 633
• Main Authors: Tsap, L.V., Goldgof, D.B., Sarkar, S., Powers, P.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.08.1998; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: Algorithms; Biological and medical sciences; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomechanics; Burns - diagnosis; Capacitive sensors; Cicatrix - diagnosis; Computer science; Computer vision; Computerized, statistical medical data processing and models in biomedicine; Deformable models; Dermatology; Elasticity; Finite element method; Finite element methods; General aspects. Methods; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Iterative methods; Mathematical models; Medical sciences; Models, Biological; Motion analysis; Pathology. Cytology. Biochemistry. Spectrometry. Miscellaneous investigative techniques; Power engineering and energy; Skin; Skin Physiological Phenomena; Strain; Vision; Vision, Ocular; Human; Evaluation; Computer vision; Skin disease; Iterative method; Trauma; Algorithm; Burn; Finite element method; Biomedical data processing; Mechanical characteristic; Unsteady motion; Skin; Elastic properties; Cicatrization; Biomedical engineering; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0278-0062
• DOI: 10.1109/42.730406

In this paper a method for the objective assessment of burn scars is proposed. The quantitative measures developed in this research provide an objective way to calculate elastic properties of burn scars relative to the surrounding areas. The approach combines range data and the mechanics and motion dynamics of human tissues. Active contours are employed to locate regions of interest and to find displacements of feature points using automatically established correspondences. Changes in strain distribution over time are evaluated. Given images at two time instances and their corresponding features, the finite element method is used to synthesize strain distributions of the underlying tissues. This results in a physically based framework for motion and strain analysis. Relative elasticity of the burn scar is then recovered using iterative descent search for the best nonlinear finite element model that approximates stretching behavior of the region containing the burn scar. The results from the skin elasticity experiments illustrate the ability to objectively detect differences in elasticity between normal and abnormal tissue. These estimated differences in elasticity are correlated against the subjective judgments of physicians that are presently the practice.