Texture based characterization of sub-skin features by specified laser speckle effects at λ=650nm region

Abstract

Objective: The textural structure of “skin age” related sub-skin components enables us to identify and analyse their unique characteristics, thus making substantial progress towards establishing an accurate skin age model. Methods: This is achieved by a two stage process. First by the application of textural analysis using laser speckle imaging, which is sensitive to textural effects within the λ=650 nm spectral band region. In the second stage a Bayesian inference method is used to select attributes from which a predictive model is built. Results: This technique enables us to contrast different skin age models, such as the laser-speckle effect against the more widely used normal light (LED) imaging method, whereby it is shown that our laser speckle based technique yields better results. Conclusion: The method introduced here is non-invasive, low-cost and capable of operating in real-time; having the potential to compete against high-cost instrumentation such as confocal microscopy or similar imaging devices used for skin age identification purposes.