Design and implementation of a calibrated store and forward imaging system for teledermatology

Abstract

The paper presents a computer-based imaging system aiming to support telemedicine examination sessions in dermatology. Many studies have proved the inadequacy of general practitioners to diagnose successfully common dermatological diseases; some of them may prove fatal if not diagnosed at their early stages (e.g., melanoma). Thus the need for telemedicine systems customized for dermatology becomes obvious for distant rural areas, where dermatological care is usually provided by general doctors. We treat technological issues such as image acquisition, camera calibration, illumination, data transmission, and data compression, and propose a store and forward architecture for image transmission. We also include a study of the effect that image compression quality factor has in the diagnostic value of the skin digital images, along with some initial results and conclusions from the pilot use of the system.