Voxel-based, parallel simulation of light in skin tissue for the reconstruction of subsurface skin lesion volumes

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2011:2011:8448-51. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6092084.

Abstract

Early detection and diagnosis of skin cancer is essential to treating the malignancy and preventing death. Subsurface features and depth information are critical in evaluating a skin lesion for this early malignancy screening. We present a novel voxel-based Monte Carlo simulation of light propagation in skin tissue which runs in a highly parallel environment on desktop graphics processors, resulting in an extremely fast simulation of millions of photons in less than one second. We then use this model in a genetic algorithm for the inverse 3D volume reconstruction of a skin lesion, given a set of multispectral images obtained using non-invasive transillumination imaging. Our method demonstrates improved accuracy at a superior resolution to existing methods.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Melanins / metabolism
  • Models, Biological
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Skin / radiation effects*
  • Skin Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Transillumination / methods*

Substances

  • Melanins