Collecting highly reproducible images to support dermatological medical diagnosis

In this article, an integrated imaging system for acquisition of accurate standardized images is proposed. The system also aims at making highly reproducible images over time, so images taken at different times can be compared. The system is made up of an integrating intensity sphere illumination together with a high resolution 3CCD color camera. The well-defined and diffuse illumination of the optically closed scene enhances the true color and avoids effects from specular reflections, shading and shadows. Two experiments are conducted to show the precision of the system and the suitability of the collected images to track dermatological diseases. Results indicate that the developed equipment is an excellent tool for getting high quality digital images. Furthermore, the images collected with the equipment turn out to be a good source to characterize dermatological images.