Comparison of Spectrometer, Camera, and Scanner Reproduction of Skin Color

The tinting techniques of medical grade silicone still depend on unstandardized method and inconsistency still arises. However, more research work is needed to find simple to use, handy, reliable device in reproducing the color spectrum of the human skin in order to exempt the patient from multiple visits. The data were collected from 90 young volunteers representing the main components of Malaysian population. They were divided into 30 Malays (28.53 +/- 9.54 years), 30 Chinese (23.8 +/- 6.34 years), and 30 Indians (26.3 +/- 9.44 years). visible light spectrophotometer, digital camera and flat scanner were used in standardized manner to compare the consistency in reproducing the skin color. A custom-made adjustable stand-holder was used to place the scanner vertically so that it can be used to record the forehead skin. Adobe Photoshop software, Microsoft office software 2007 (word, power point, excel), SPSS statistical analysis software version 17, and a specially programmed software (Image Colors Average Calculator Software version 1 beta) that calculates the average LAB values of the whole pixels in the captured images by camera or scanner were used to process the data. The result was displayed in CIE LAB values so that it can be transformed into a colored tag for printing. The visual double-blinded evaluations of the recorded skin colors were performed by four independent examiners worked independently to find the best-printed color that match the original skin color. Normality of distribution, ANOVA, and Chai-square were used to find the difference between the color values of the different ethnic groups and gender (p<0.05) and to analyze the observers' assessments regarding the color matching of skin-tags. Generally, the images captured by digital camera showed nearly 70% agreement between observers compared to other devices. Difference was shown between the males and females in addition among the different ethnic groups.