Download Picture color analyzer!

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In RGB mode, various brightness values of red(R), green(G), and blue(B) light combine to form the colors on the screen. The range of colors in the visible spectrum is represented by controlling the intensities of the individual RGB components.

An intensity value for each of the RGB components (ranging from 0 to 255) is assigned to each pixel.

 For example, �gtotal R value�h is sum of R value [1 to 255] of each pixel in the area you chose.�h Average R value�h is (total R value) / (255 X number of pixels in the area).

Full text of the paper @ American journal of Ophthalmology about picture color analyzer

Simple and inexpensive software designed for the evaluation of color

Isao Otaka, MD, Kenjiro Kumagai, MD, Yoko Inagaki, MD, Masaru Shimoyama, MD, Katsuyuki Saegusa,

and Takeshi Hara, MD

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From the Department of Ophthalmology, Shizuoka Red Cross Hospital, Shizuoka, Japan (I.O., Y.I., M.S.); Department of Ophthalmology, Saiseikai Central Hospital, Tokyo, Japan (K.K.); Saegusa Precision Software, Fukui, Japan (K.S.); and Department of Ophthalmology, Omiya Red Cross Hospital, Saitama, Japan (T.H.).

Inquiries to Isao Otaka, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Shizuoka Red Cross Hospital, 8-2 Outemachi, Shizuoka city, Shizuoka 420-0853, Japan; fax: 81-54-252-8816; e-mail: otaka@isao.com

PURPOSE: To report on new software that was specially designed to evaluate color.

DESIGN: Software development and observational case report.

METHODS: Each pixel on a computer screen is composed of 3 colors, red, green, and blue (RGB). Our software analyzes the intensity of each RGB component in a specific area chosen by the user. To test our software, we evaluated the color level of a subject�fs irises, which became darker as a side effect of Xalatan® (latanoprost, Pharmacia Corporation, Peapack, NJ) eye drops.

RESULT: We successfully expressed the level of the color of the iris by number.

CONCLUSION: This software measures the color of a lesion and thereby provides an objective evaluation of color.�@The software we developed is downloadable, without cost, from http://www.isao.com

A case report of software development and observation. Although the accurate and objective evaluation of color is quite important in medicine, it is difficult to achieve. Recently, we developed software which is specially designed for this purpose. Here, we describe the simple software that enables us to evaluate color objectively and digitally.

In the Windows® operating system (OS) (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA), colors are recorded as a combination of three parameters: hue, saturation, and luminosity. The basic quality of a color, its redness, blueness, etc., is defined by its hue. The purity of a color is defined by its saturation; a low saturation value means more gray is mixed in. The brightness or dullness of a color is defined by its luminosity. Hue, saturation, and luminosity are the parameters that the Windows® OS uses internally, but video-display hardware uses a different set of numbers. Images on a color monitor are formed by a combination of dots, or pixels. To make each pixel visible, a beam of electrons is fired at three tiny spots of phosphor, one red, one green, and one blue. The result is three points of distinctly colored light so close together that they are seen as a single light source. The apparent color of that light source is determined by the relative intensities of its red, green, and blue (RGB) components.¹ These components are known as the primary colors.²

The Windows® OS translates each combination of hue, saturation, and luminosity into varying degrees of energy directed at the spots of red, green, and blue phosphor.¹

In RGB mode, various brightness values of red, green, and blue light combine to form the colors on the screen. The range of colors in the visible spectrum is represented by controlling the intensities of the individual RGB components.

In Adobe Photoshop® (Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA), the excellent standard software for handling pictures, an intensity value for each of the RGB components (ranging from 0 to 255) is assigned to each pixel. For example, a bright red color might have an R value of 246, a G value of 20, and a B value of 50. When the values of all three components are equal, the result is a shade of gray, when the value of each component is 255, the result is pure white, and when all components have values of 0, the result is pure black. These numbers are called color values.²

Hanson DG et al digitized video-documented laryngoscopies and used Adobe Photoshop® to analyze the level of redness of chronic laryngitis lesions.³ Adobe Photoshop® measures average RGB color values of up to 5X5 pixels simultaneously,² so Hanson et al made ten random measurements in each of 5 areas.³ We thought this was a rational approach, so we developed software that was specially designed to facilitate the analysis of color value.

During treatment with Xalatan® (latanoprost, Pharmacia Corporation, Peapack, NJ) eye drops, some patients experience darkening of the iris. We used such a patient as the subject in the evaluation of our software. The software compared the color of the irises before treatment and after 9 months of treatment. We used a Kowa photo slit SC-1200® (Kowa Optimed, Nagoya, Japan) to take the pictures and then made 35mm slides. The 35mm slides were scanned (600 dpi [dots per inch] is usually adequate) under the same conditions with the Microtek ScanMaker 35t plus® (Microtek Lab Inc., Redondo Beach, CA) and Adobe Photoshop® in the Windows 98® OS Japanese version. Then, we used our new software. The process is very simple. Users open the picture to be analyzed, click on the edge of the area where they would like to analyze the color value, and click the �gclip�h button. Then they click the �gstart�h button (figure 1). The picture color analyzer automatically calculates total and average RGB value. For example, total red (R) value means (red value of each pixel [1 to 255]) X (number of pixels in the area). Average (R) value is (total R value) / (255 X number of pixels in the area). The color that matches the average RGB value is also shown on the screen (figure 2).

Before treatment, the iris shows an average value of R 0.92, G 0.77, B 0.56. After 9 months of treatment with Xalatan®, the iris shows an average value of R 0.65, G 0.59, B 0.48. All average RGB values are less after treatment than before, which indicates that this is an objective measure of the darkening of the iris.

This study has a limitation. It is very important to have exactly the same lighting conditions during the photographic sessions, so we used only flashlight of the camera under the exactly the same settings, but this doesn�ft mean �gexactly the same�h lighting conditions.

Despite this limitation, the result of this study is encouraging. We believe this software is useful for the evaluation of color in the medical field. We call this software �gPicture Color Analyzer�h and it is downloadable, without cost, from http://www.isao.com

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references

1. Craig Stinson. Running Microsoft Windows® 98. Microsoft Press

2. Adobe Photoshop® version 3.0 �ghelp�h. Adobe Systems Incorporated

3. Hanson DG, Jiang J, Chi W. Quantitative color analysis of laryngeal erythema in chronic posterior laryngitis. J Voice 1998;12(1):78-83.

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FIGURE 1. Users open the picture to be analyzed, click on the edge of the area where they would like to analyze the color value (arrow), then click the �gclip�h button and the �gstart�h button (arrowhead).

FIGURE2. The picture color analyzer automatically calculates total and average RGB value (arrow). The color that matches the average RGB value is also shown on the screen. (arrowhead).

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