Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss
Background/Objective: The conventional approach to evaluate female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is to visually inspect and score images of balding area (BA). However, visual estimates vary widely among different physicians, and may hinder objective assessment of hair loss and subsequent treatment respon...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Dermatologica Sinica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1027811715000208 |
| _version_ | 1818939677472718848 |
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| author | Pei-Kai Hung Thomas Waitao Chu Ren-Yeu Tsai Chien-Wei Kung Sung-Jan Lin Chung-Ming Chen |
| author_facet | Pei-Kai Hung Thomas Waitao Chu Ren-Yeu Tsai Chien-Wei Kung Sung-Jan Lin Chung-Ming Chen |
| author_sort | Pei-Kai Hung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background/Objective: The conventional approach to evaluate female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is to visually inspect and score images of balding area (BA). However, visual estimates vary widely among different physicians, and may hinder objective assessment of hair loss and subsequent treatment response. For this reason, we propose a quantitative method using a computer-aided imaging system to help physicians evaluate the severity of FPHL clinically.
Methods: We use a series of digital image processing techniques to measure the width of central balding area of FPHL. A total of 184 photos were collected form 33 Chinese women with FPHL (stages I-2 to II-2 on the Savin scale). Each photograph underwent standardized exposure correction. The balding areas were detected through this computer system and then transformed into an equivalent ellipse by principal component analysis. The width of ellipse [balding width (BW)] was measured. Spearman's rank correlation was used to detect the correlation between our measurements and clinical staging.
Results: Exposure correction resulted in a 16.97% (|BWcorrected − BWoriginal|/BWcorrected) difference in BW. The average BW was 54.98 mm in all patients, 25.79 mm in type I-2 patients, 37.41 mm in I-3, 54.08 mm in I-4, 72.10 mm in II-1, and 85.53 mm in II-2. The values of BW were correlated with Savin scale stages clinically (rBW = 0.967), which was significant statistically (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: A computer-aided imaging system could be a useful tool to assist physicians to evaluate the balding area more precisely for clinical staging in FPHL. The BW instead of the balding area is simple to use clinically to represent the severity of FPHL. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T06:27:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a75b55da856a4b84a426336e7bdb7bee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1027-8117 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T06:27:33Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Dermatologica Sinica |
| spelling | doaj.art-a75b55da856a4b84a426336e7bdb7bee2022-12-21T19:50:15ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsDermatologica Sinica1027-81172015-09-0133314214510.1016/j.dsi.2015.01.002Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair lossPei-Kai Hung0Thomas Waitao Chu1Ren-Yeu Tsai2Chien-Wei Kung3Sung-Jan Lin4Chung-Ming Chen5Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Dermatology, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, TaiwanDepartment of Dermatology and Skin Laser Center, Taipei Municipal Wan-Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, TaiwanInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanInstitute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanBackground/Objective: The conventional approach to evaluate female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is to visually inspect and score images of balding area (BA). However, visual estimates vary widely among different physicians, and may hinder objective assessment of hair loss and subsequent treatment response. For this reason, we propose a quantitative method using a computer-aided imaging system to help physicians evaluate the severity of FPHL clinically. Methods: We use a series of digital image processing techniques to measure the width of central balding area of FPHL. A total of 184 photos were collected form 33 Chinese women with FPHL (stages I-2 to II-2 on the Savin scale). Each photograph underwent standardized exposure correction. The balding areas were detected through this computer system and then transformed into an equivalent ellipse by principal component analysis. The width of ellipse [balding width (BW)] was measured. Spearman's rank correlation was used to detect the correlation between our measurements and clinical staging. Results: Exposure correction resulted in a 16.97% (|BWcorrected − BWoriginal|/BWcorrected) difference in BW. The average BW was 54.98 mm in all patients, 25.79 mm in type I-2 patients, 37.41 mm in I-3, 54.08 mm in I-4, 72.10 mm in II-1, and 85.53 mm in II-2. The values of BW were correlated with Savin scale stages clinically (rBW = 0.967), which was significant statistically (p < 0.05). Conclusion: A computer-aided imaging system could be a useful tool to assist physicians to evaluate the balding area more precisely for clinical staging in FPHL. The BW instead of the balding area is simple to use clinically to represent the severity of FPHL.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1027811715000208balding widthfemale pattern hair lossquantitative analysis |
| spellingShingle | Pei-Kai Hung Thomas Waitao Chu Ren-Yeu Tsai Chien-Wei Kung Sung-Jan Lin Chung-Ming Chen Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss Dermatologica Sinica balding width female pattern hair loss quantitative analysis |
| title | Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| title_full | Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| title_fullStr | Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| title_full_unstemmed | Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| title_short | Quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| title_sort | quantitative assessment of female pattern hair loss |
| topic | balding width female pattern hair loss quantitative analysis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1027811715000208 |
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