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Construction of a novel port wine stain phantom and measurement of colour by digital imaging and reflectance spectrophotometry

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Abstract

A novel skin phantom is described that is constructed with quantifiable amounts of skin pigments, as well as a light scattering medium in the form of barium sulphate suspension. The two predominant skin pigments (melanin and haemoglobin) are varied in controlled amounts within the phantoms to simulate skin colour in different situations. The phantoms were devised in order to simulate the changes in skin colour particularly after laser treatment of port wine stains, where superficial cutaneous vascularity is reduced. Preliminary investigations of two techniques for skin colour assessment were subsequently carried out so that their suitability for measuring colour in the skin phantoms could be considered. A specifically designed device was constructed to enable repeatable digital image capture of the phantoms. Further development of this skin phantom may enable comparison of techniques for skin colour assessment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Mr Ian Stephenson, technician at the Medical Engineering Department, Salisbury District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, for construction of the image-capture device.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wessex Specialist Laser Centre, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Salisbury District Hospital NHS Trust, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP2 8BJ, UK

    D. C. Widdowson, P. G. Shakespeare, J. C. Moore & P. A. Wright

  2. Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, G4 OSF, UK

    D. C. Widdowson

  3. School of Design, Engineering and Computing, University of Bournemouth, Poole, UK

    P. A. Wright

Authors
  1. D. C. Widdowson
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  2. P. G. Shakespeare
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  3. J. C. Moore
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  4. P. A. Wright
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Correspondence to D. C. Widdowson.

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Widdowson, D.C., Shakespeare, P.G., Moore, J.C. et al. Construction of a novel port wine stain phantom and measurement of colour by digital imaging and reflectance spectrophotometry. Lasers Med Sci 23, 369–374 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-007-0495-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-007-0495-1

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