US 12,290,376 B2
Skin inspection device for identifying abnormalities
Christopher Murphy, Mayo (IE); Gavin Corley, Galway (IE); and Simon Kiersey, Galway (IE)
Assigned to BLUEDROP MEDICAL LIMITED, Galway (IE)
Appl. No. 16/303,296
Filed by Bluedrop Medical Limited, Galway (IE)
PCT Filed Apr. 6, 2017, PCT No. PCT/EP2017/058297
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 20, 2018,
PCT Pub. No. WO2017/202535, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 30, 2017.
Claims priority of application No. 1609031 (GB), filed on May 23, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2019/0209076 A1, Jul. 11, 2019
Int. Cl. A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/01 (2006.01); A61B 5/103 (2006.01); G01G 19/50 (2006.01); G02F 1/13 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/445 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0022 (2013.01); A61B 5/0077 (2013.01); A61B 5/015 (2013.01); A61B 5/1032 (2013.01); A61B 5/1036 (2013.01); A61B 5/441 (2013.01); A61B 5/442 (2013.01); A61B 5/443 (2013.01); A61B 5/447 (2013.01); A61B 5/7203 (2013.01); A61B 5/7235 (2013.01); A61B 5/746 (2013.01); G01G 19/50 (2013.01); G02F 1/132 (2013.01); A61B 5/444 (2013.01); A61B 2560/0223 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0261 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0271 (2013.01); A61B 2562/0276 (2013.01); A61B 2562/046 (2013.01); A61B 2562/185 (2013.01); A61B 2576/02 (2013.01)] 51 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A skin inspection device for identifying skin abnormalities; the device comprising:
a transparent panel having an inspection area;
an array of discrete thermochromic liquid crystal (TLC) formations provided on a top surface of the transparent panel which are operable to change colour in response to a change of temperature of the TLC formations;
one or more image capture devices for a combined capture of a colour image of the TLC formations and an image of a target of an area of skin of a patient's foot located in the inspection area such that a combined colour image is provided, wherein the combined colour image provides a dataset combining corresponding temperature values with co-located image data of both the target of the area of the skin and the TLC formations; and
a processor operably coupled to the one or more image capture devices for controlling operations thereof,
wherein the processor is operable to generate indicia indicative of an emergence of ulcers and/or the skin abnormalities, and
wherein the TLC formations are spaced apart from each other such that, when a subset of the TLC formations change colour in response to the change of temperature of the subset of the TLC formations, portions of the transparent panel between adjacent TLC formations of the subset changing colour remain transparent, distances between peripheries of the TLC formations being greater than a diameter of the TLC formations, the co-located image data being addressable through coordinates and the coordinates of the co-located image data correspond to one or more pixels in the combined colour image, the processor being operable to map a graphical region of the area of the skin to the coordinates of the co-located image data.