Authors

William Teddy

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Medical literature in the area of skin disease largely relies on images of patients with lighter skin tones while containing minimal references to the way disease states of the skin present on patients with more pigmented skin. In fields such as dermatology, where these image references are repeatedly critical for diagnosis, these disparities can hinder proper treatment and/or increase misdiagnosis for patients presenting with darker skin tones. The goal of the following project is to ultimately guide discussion and build awareness of these evident disparities while introducing to medical professionals the possibility of digitally enhancing symptoms as a means to broaden the number of images depicting skin disease in darker skin. The project took images of various skin diseases as they present in lighter skin tones and utilized Adobe Photoshop software to adjust for factors such as saturation, hue, vibrance, etc. to make predictions for how these disease states would present in individuals of color. Results show digital manipulation of selected skin diseases provided a unique possibility for modeling skin disease and could provide great advantages to medical professionals notwithstanding its limitations.

Publication Date

5-1-2021

Language

English

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