Quantitative Image Analysis of Vascular Skin Response to Intense Pulsed Light Therapy

Aleksandra Lipka-Trawińska,1 Anna Deda,2 Barbara Błońska-Fajfrowska,3 Agata Lebiedowska,3 Magdalena Hartman-Petrycka,3 Robert Koprowski,4 Dominika Wcisło-Dziadecka,2 Sławomir Wilczyński3 1Clinical Department of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Allergology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Zabrze, Poland; 2Department of Practical Cosmetology and Skin Diagnostics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Poland; 3Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Poland; 4Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, PolandCorrespondence: Agata Lebiedowska, Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Jedności 8B, Sosnowiec, 41-208, Poland, Tel +48 269 98 30, Email [email protected]: This study assessed the effectiveness of treatments using intense pulsed light (IPL) in reducing vascular lesions of the facial skin, such as erythema and telangiectasia.Patients and Methods: The study involved 38 subjects aged 20 to 61 who underwent a series of 3 IPL procedures. In order to quantitatively assess the effects of therapy, advanced clinical photography techniques involving cross-polarized light and dedicated image analysis algorithms, ie GLCM (Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix) and QTDCOMP (Quadratic Tree Decomposition), were used.Results: The results indicate a significant reduction in vascular lesions after a series of treatments, which was confirmed by a statistically significant reduction in GLCM contrast and an increase in image homogeneity. Additionally, the use of quadratic tree decomposition allowed for the quantitative determination of skin homogeneity after therapy.Conclusion: The study has shown that image registration in cross-polarized light as well as GLCM and QTDCOMP analysis are effective tools for the objective and quantitative assessment of vascular skin lesions. These methods can be widely used in clinical practice to optimize the therapy of vascular lesions and monitor the effectiveness of IPL procedures.Keywords: vascular lesions, cross-polarized light, image analysis, homogeneity, quantitative evaluation