Identified early stage mycosis fungoides from psoriasis and atopic dermatitis using non-invasive color contrast enhancement by LEDs lighting

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common type of cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) and may progress internally over time. MF is clinically categorized as poorly defined areas of erythema, flat patches, thin plaques, and tumors. The diagnosis of early stage of MF (patch and early plaque mycosis fungoides) has been a major diagnostic challenge in dermatology because of the lack of highly characteristic immunophenotypical markers and the heterogeneity of clinical presentations of MF. In this study, the spectrum of each picture element of the patient’s skin image was obtained by multi-spectral imaging technology (MSI). Spectra of normal or pathological skin were collected from 30 patients (10 early stage MF, 10 psoriasis vulgaris, and 10 atopic dermatitis). An algorithm combined with multi-spectral imaging and color reproduction technique is applied to find the best enhancement of the difference between normal and abnormal skin regions. Accordingly, an illuminant with specific intensity ratio of red, green, and blue LEDs is proposed, which has optimal color enhancement for MF detection. Compared with the fluorescent lighting commonly in the use now, the color difference between normal and inflamed skin can be improved from 11.8414 to 17.4002 with a 47 % increase, 8.7671 to 12.8544 with a 26.3 % increase, and 11.0735 to 17.2634 with a 34.3 % increase for MF, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis patients, respectively, thus making medical diagnosis more efficient, so helping patients receive early treatment.