1. What are spots?
Spots are small, flat dark areas on the skin. They usually range in color from light brown to black and are mainly located in areas most exposed to the sun, particularly the face and neck. Spots generally start to appear from the age of 40 and become common in adults in their fifties, but younger people can also get spots if they spend time under the sun. Although spots are harmless, most people prefers to have them lightened or removed due to the unsightliness. Frequent causes of spots include:
- Sun exposure (leading cause)
- Inflammation, such as acne, eczema, allergic reactions
- Melasma, happening mainly during pregnancy
- Medication side effects
- Genetic causes and disorders
To assist diagnosis of skin spots, a skin image needs to be taken under the XPL light using the Chowis Mobile Analyzer for Skin. Our algorithm then evaluates the spots in the image and provides the grading. To be specific, in each image we study the color intensity of spots and classify them as light brown spots, brown spots and dark spots and visualize them as follows:
- Yellow, for light brown spots
- Orange, as brown spots
- Green, for dark spots
2. Chowis spots grade
The following Chowis spots grade has been co-developed by Chowis and dermatology experts. For each image, we detect spots to provide a quantified score. An expert approved questionnaire is also included, as an option, in order to understand a customer's lifestyle and habits and obtain a fuller profile of the customer's skin. Taking into account the questionnaire results, the final score for skin spots is computed as the weighted average of the image score and questionnaire score. In case that questionnaire is skipped, only image score will be used. Based on the scale shown in Table 1, we grade skin spots into clear, almost clear, mild, moderate and severe.
| Grade | Scale | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Clear | 0 ~ 5 | Clear skin with little to no spots |
| Almost Clear | 6 ~ 15 | Skin with mild pigmentation problem, sparse spots |
| Mild | 16 ~ 48 | Moderate amount of spots covering portion of the skin |
| Moderate | 49 ~ 80 | Severe skin pigmentation with large area of skin covered with spots |
| Severe | 81 ~ 99 | Very severe skin pigmentation with wide spread spots covering most part of skin |