Development of a standardized software for automatic thickness measurement of scalp hair

In modern society, appearance is considered very important, and male alopecia, which occurs due to a decrease in male hormones due to aging, acts as a serious psychological factor that lowers the person's self-esteem and confidence. Since alopecia is preceded by a thinning process before hair falls out, measuring hair thickness is one of the very important factors in evaluating the progress of alopecia. To date, there are two ways to measure hair thickness: mechanical measurement using a micro caliper, or the Folliscope phototrichogram method, which calculates hair thickness using an enlarged microscopic photograph of the scalp. There are differences in measurement values between these two methods, and in the case of Folliscope phototrichogram method, which magnifies the scalp including hair, a person draws a line between both sides of the hair and the software measures the length of the line. In this study, we propose an automatic thickness measurement method that minimizes the possibility of errors by automating the process of human line drawing as a standard measurement method for hair thickness.