1. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice, including
Step S1: obtaining an image of a newborn’s face as well as color markers;
Step S2: color correction of the image based on the color markers;
Step S3: calculating a jaundice index based on color information of pixels of the image, excluding undesired interfering factors.
2. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the Step S1 the image is taken by smart phones, tablets or personal computers with a camera equipped with an executable program, and the color markers includes pure red, pure green and pure blue;
the Step S2 includes automatic locating color markers and calculating total number of image pixels within each of the color markers, denoted as Nx, x\u03b5{r, g, b}, an average of each of the color markers is calculated when Nx is greater than a preset value;
the Step S22 includes color normalization of the image based on the average of each of the color markers for obtaining RGB color information;
the Step S3 includes S31 for locating facial skin pixels based on an ordinary hues of skin and totaling the facial skin pixels as NSk;
the Step S32 locating jaundice pixels among the facial skin pixels based on a statistic range of hues of jaundice;
the Step S33 includes calculating an average saturation of the jaundice pixels, and calculating Jaundice Skin Ration (JSR) defined to be a ratio between a number of jaundice pixels and a number of facial skin pixels; wherein when JSR is less than a preset value, the image is recommended to be retaken;
the Step S34 includes conversion of the average saturation to a jaundice index, and with the newborn’s birth time taken into consideration as a factor of postnatal age.
3. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 2, wherein objects around the newborn contain less colors of red, green, blue or yellow.
4. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 2, wherein a preview of the image includes a facial outline and one or more color marker contour, with Step S21 includes automatic locating the color markers and allocating the color markers within the color marker contour, let i not belonging to a specific area,
mxRri, mxRgi, mxRbi are defined to be the largest continuous area for Rri, Rgi, Rbi, respectively, with maxi{(mxRri, mxRgi, mxRbi}) defined as an ith area that contains the maximum mxRri, mxRgi, mxRbi, corresponding to the pure red marker, the pure green marker, and the pure blue marker, respectively;
{CPi} is set to be a collection of pixels within the color marker contour, and
Rri, Rgi, and Rbi, are the area of color closet to pure red, pure green and pure blue, respectively, x\u03b5{r, g, b}
Rxi={P},P\u03b5{CPi}
|(Pr,Pg,Pb)\u2212(xr,xg,xb)|<th\u2014p, wherein
x\u03b5{r,g,b}
(rr,rg,rb)=(255,0,0),
(gr,gg,gb)=(0,255,0),
(br,bg,bb)=(0,0,255),
|a-b| is the distance between a and b \u221a{square root over ((ar\u2212br)2+(ag\u2212bg)2+(ab\u2212bb)2)}{square root over ((ar\u2212br)2+(ag\u2212bg)2+(ab\u2212bb)2)}{square root over ((ar\u2212br)2+(ag\u2212bg)2+(ab\u2212bb)2)}
th\u2014cp represents the preset threshold value for the color markers,
Pr is an average value of the red channel in the color marker of red,
Pg is an average value of the green channel in the color marker of green,
Pb is an average value of the blue channel in the color marker of blue,
Step S22 includes color normalization to each of the pixels in the image in reference to the red channel, the green channel and the blue channel, respectively, such that the value of the red channel, the green channel and the blue channel is closer to 255; Let normalization factor
f
r
=
255
P
r
,
f
g
=
255
P
g
,
f
b
=
255
P
b
,
such that the red channel Cr of each image pixel is normalized as
C\u2032r=fr\xd7Cr,
in the same manner, the green channel Cg of each image pixel is normalized as
C\u2032g=fg\xd7Cg, and
the blue channel Cb of each image pixel is normalized as
C\u2032b=fb\xd7Cb.
5. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 4, wherein Nx is preset to correspond to an image resolution of the camera, a threshold value for the color marker is preferably 10.
6. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 4, wherein
in the Step S31, RGB color information is converted to HSV color information, in reference to a statistical range of hues in facial skin of newborns, facial skin pixels within the ellipitical facial contour are denoted as Sk, with a total number of Sk denoted as NSk;
Step S33 includes locating jaundice pixels J among the facial skin pixels Sk, with the total number of J denoted as NJ, with the total number of Sk denoted as NSk, wherein JSR is defined as the ratio between NJ and NSk,
J
\ue89e
\ue89e
S
\ue89e
\ue89e
R
=
N
J
N
Sk
;
the image is evaluated as poor when JSR is less than thJSR (50%), and retaking of the image is recommended;
Step S34 includes first obtaining a saturation average Js of jaundice pixels, then converting by a function T(x) to a jaundice index, clinically equivalent to the serum bilirubin level from blood tests.
7. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 6, wherein the Step S3 further includes calculating the total number of image pixels NE within the elliptical facial outline along with its average saturation SE, and a ratio SER Skin Ellipse ratio, of NSk to NE, obtained by
SER
=
N
Sk
N
E
.
when SER<thSER, the quality of the image taken is evaluated as poor and recommended to retake the image; when SER>thSER, and SE>thSE, proceed to Step S32.
8. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 7, thSER is 70%, a parameter of facial image pixels is 42.5\xb118.5, range of hues for newborns as a parameter for jaundice pixels is in 40-60, thJSR is 50%, thSE is 0.5, and the function T(x) is a regressional statistic function of Js and Jv.
9. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 1, wherein a birth time of the newborn is taken into account, together with the calculation of the jaundice index, to evaluate the need for a doctor visit or phototherapy.
10. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 1, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
11. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 2, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
12. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 3, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
13. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 4, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
14. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 5, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
15. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 6, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
16. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 7, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
17. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 8, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
18. A self-diagnostic method for jaundice as claimed in claim 9, executable in an Application software downloadable to electronic means.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a first portion;
a second portion;
wherein the first portion has an outer surface having external threads and an inner cavity having internal threads, and wherein the external threads and internal threads are threaded in opposite directions.
and wherein the second portion has an end having external threads and wherein the external threads of the second portion can be screwed into the internal threads of the first portion to attach the second portion to the first portion.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein
the first portion is a plug; and
and the second portion is a pencil.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein
the second portion is a zinc pencil.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising
a device having a cavity with internal threads,
and wherein the external threads of the first portion can be screwed into the internal threads of the device so that the first portion is attached to the device, and wherein while the external threads of the first portion are screwed into the internal threads of the device, at least part of the second portion lies inside of the cavity of the device.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein
the first portion is a plug; and
and the second portion is a pencil.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein
the second portion is a zinc pencil.
7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein
the device is part of an engine.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein
the device is part of a marine engine.
9. A method comprising the steps of:
providing a first portion with an outer surface having external threads and an inner cavity having internal threads, and wherein the external threads and internal threads are threaded in opposite directions; and
providing a second portion having an end having external threads and wherein the external threads of the second portion can be screwed into the internal threads of the first portion to attach the second portion to the first portion.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein
the first portion is a plug; and
and the second portion is a pencil.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein
the second portion is a zinc pencil.
12. The method of claim 9 further comprising
providing a device having a cavity with internal threads,
and wherein the external threads of the first portion can be screwed into the internal threads of the device so that the first portion is attached to the device, and wherein while the external threads of the first portion are screwed into the internal threads of the device, at least part of the second portion lies inside of the cavity of the device.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein
the first portion is a plug; and
and the second portion is a pencil.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein
the second portion is a zinc pencil.
15. The method of claim 12 further comprising
providing the device as part of an engine.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising
providing the device as part of a marine engine.