Algorithm for Analyzing Thermal Images of Laser Irradiated Human Skin

Introduction: Tracking temporal changes of temperature during laser skin treatment plays an important role in improving the process of laser skin treatment itself. There are a number of methods to analyze temperature's temporal dependency during laser skin treatment; some of those methods depend on imaging the skin with thermal cameras. However, the use of thermal cameras exhibits specific problems, including the ability to track laser-skin interaction spot. This paper is dedicated to solve that problem using digital image processing program coded with Matlab. Methods: The measurements were taken for 15 native Syrian subjects of different sex, age and skin tones, the treated ailment was port wine stain. The clinical work (laser exposure) was performed in Damascus University, hospital of dermatology. The treatment was observed by thermal camera and analyzed using the proposed Matlab coded tracking system. Results: For all the subjects, the treatment laser spot was tracked and the curves of skin temperature change with time where calculated by the use of the proposed algorithm, then the active time was calculated for each subject. The algorithm proved practical and robust. Conclusion: The proposed algorithm proved to be efficient and can be used to support future researchers with capability to measure the temperature with high frame rate.