Independent-component analysis of skin color image

The spatial distributions of melanin and hemoglobin in human skin are separ ated by independent-component analysis of a skin color image. The analysis is based on the skin color model with three assumptions: (1) Spatial variat ion of color in the skin is caused by two pigments, melanin and hemoglobin; (2) the quantities of the two pigments are mutually independent spatially; and (3) linearity holds among the quantities and the observed color signal s in the optical density domain. The results of the separation agree well w ith physiological knowledge. The separated components are synthesized to si mulate the various facial color images by changing the quantities of the tw o separated pigments. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America [SO740-3232(99)00 609-2] OCIS codes: 100.2960, 330.1690.