TY - JOUR

T1 - Improved polarimetric analysis of human skin through stitching

T2 - advantages, limitations, and applications in dermatology

AU - Jütte, Lennart

AU - Patel, Harshkumar

AU - Roth, Bernhard

N1 - Funding Information: This work has been supported by iToBoS (Intelligent Total Body Scanner for Early Detection of Melanoma), project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under grant agreement No 965221. Also, financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy within the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD (EXC 2122, Project ID 390833453) is acknowledged.

PY - 2023/11/30

Y1 - 2023/11/30

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - dermatology

KW - imaging

KW - melanoma

KW - polarimetry

KW - skin diseases

KW - stitching

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178497099&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1088/2057-1976/ad0e87

DO - 10.1088/2057-1976/ad0e87

M3 - Article

C2 - 37988749

AN - SCOPUS:85178497099

VL - 10

JO - Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express

JF - Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express

IS - 1

M1 - 015007

ER -