Masahiro Nishibori1, Norimichi Tsumura2, and Yoichi Miyake2
1Clinical
Laboratory, Tokyo Medical and Dental University and 2Department of Information
and Image Sciences, Chiba University
Abstract
Multispectral imaging will certainly provide an excellent solution to color
problems in medicine, and may have significant im-pacts in many aspects of
medicine, so that the realization of individual improvement forms a complicated
network. Specific reports on the concrete medical problems that will be solved
by a specific multispectral technology will therefore be indispens-able. It is
also important to understand some specific principles are appropriate from a
marketing viewpoint for the chaotic medical field. Based on these
considerations, two promising medical applications of multispectral imaging are
proposed; digital images with spectral reflectance for each pixel, and digital
images that are very accurate reproductions of real objects. The first
technology will lead to new morphological diagnostic methods more powerful than
human visual perception alone, and possibly even to the discovery of the
mechanism of human color recognition, while the second advance will lead to a
major improvement in the diagnostic reliability of digital color images and
wider medical adoption of digital technology. The former will require
considerable investment but will provide significant improvements in diagnostic
ability, particularly for rare diseases, while the latter will provide practical
and general improvements in medicine at relatively low cost.
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