Digital imaging colposcopy: Corrected area measurements using shape-from-shading

The quantitative measurement of areas on the cervix is of interest to resea rchers studying the natural history of human papilloma viral lesions. Measu rement of areas from images obtained through a colposcope are, however, inh erently in error due to the image being a two-dimensional projection of a t hree-dimensional object, The ability to correct for these errors through us e of digital imaging colposcopy and a practical application of a shape from shading algorithm was developed in this study. The shape from shading tech nique requires empirical measurement of the relationship between observed l ight intensity and the viewing angle (referred to as a reflection map). It was found that a population mean reflection map provided a correction that was about as accurate as using an individual's own reflection map (making i t unnecessary to measure a map for each exam). Digital red filtering of the images increased accuracy and precision of measurement.