TCM Tongue Diagnosis Indices of UGI Disorders
Study Details
Study Description
Brief Summary
The Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System (ATDS) was developed to capture tongue images and extract features reliably to assist the diagnosis of TCM practitioners.This project will employ the ATDS verified to extract the tongue features of patients with upper gastrointestinal disorders, such as peptic ulcer, etc. A TCM indices derived through the non-intrusive tongue diagnosis procedure can provide valuable information for clinical doctors to analyze the current status of a patient and dynamically schedule a treatment plan, facilitating early detection and diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal disorders.
| Condition or Disease | Intervention/Treatment | Phase |
|---|---|---|
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Detailed Description
Upper gastrointestinal disorders are common in clinical practice. Currently, the diagnosis of peptic ulcer only depends on laboratory exams such as clinical symptoms, blood test, urine test and feces test. But the result can be only auxiliary exams which don't gain correct diagnosis on helping assess ulcer severity. As the most suitable diagnosis method, panendoscopy can directly observe lesions, judge disease severity, carry out a biopsy, test lesion is benignant or malignant, Helicobacter Pylorus infection or not, the degree of inflammation, etc. But panendoscopy belongs to invasive test. If we can observe tongue characteristics of patients with upper gastrointestinal diseases through scientific tongue diagnosis, physical discomfort caused by the test will be significantly reduced.
Based on clinical observational study, this project will employ the Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System (ATDS) developed. The ATDS was developed to capture tongue images and extract features reliably to assist the diagnosis of TCM practitioners demonstrates the steps in the three major functions, i.e., image capturing and color calibration, tongues area segmentation, and tongue feature extraction, included in the ATDS.
Variations in background lighting may change the color and brightness of the acquired images, greatly affecting consistency and stability of the extracted tongue features. The ATDS developed can automatically correct lighting and color deviation caused by the change of background lighting with a color bar attached in the ATDS. The color bar placed beside the patient is used for color calibration to make sure the image quality is consistent even taken at different circumstances. Tongue images are analyzed by first isolating the tongue region within an image to eliminate irrelevant lower facial portions and background surrounding the tongue, thereby facilitating feature identification and extraction; and then extracting the tongue features by employing criteria such as the aspect ratio, color composition, location, shape, and color distribution of the tongue, as well as the quantity of neighboring pixels. Features including tongue color, tongue fissure, fur color, fur thickness, ecchymosis, tooth mark, red dot, saliva, and tongue shape are extracted to further generate detailed information regarding length, area, moisture, and number of fissures, marks, and dots to be employed in tongue diagnosis. Nine primary tongue features, including tongue color (slightly white, slightly red, red, dark red, dark purple), fur color (white, yellow, dye), fur thickness (none, thin, thick), saliva (none, little, normal, excessive), tongue shape (thin and small, moderate, fat and large), tongue fissure, red dot, ecchymosis, and tooth marks (the last four features are divided into categories of none, mild, moderate, and severe), are selected for tongue diagnosis.
This project will employ the ATDS verified to extract the tongue features of patients with upper gastrointestinal disorders. Through statistically analysis of the data collected and cross-referencing the existing indices of western medicine, we aim to derive meaningful TCM indices from tongue diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal diseases, such as peptic ulcer, etc. A TCM indices derived through the non-intrusive tongue diagnosis procedure can provide valuable information for clinical doctors to analyze the current status of a patient and dynamically schedule a treatment plan, facilitating early detection and diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal disorders.
Study Design
Arms and Interventions
| Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
|---|---|
| peptic ulcer patients who had upper GI symptoms and diagnosed as peptic ulcer by panendoscopy, followed tongue images by Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System |
Diagnostic Test: panendoscopy
panendoscopy
Diagnostic Test: tongue image
capture tongue images by Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System
|
| healthy patients who had no past history or systemic disease, diagnosed as UGI negative finding by panendoscopy, followed tongue images by Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System |
Diagnostic Test: panendoscopy
panendoscopy
Diagnostic Test: tongue image
capture tongue images by Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System
|
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcome Measures
- Tongue features [5-10 mins]
diagnosed by the Automatic Tongue Diagnosis System (ATDS)
Secondary Outcome Measures
- Panendoscopy report [20-30 mins]
diagnosed upper GI disorders by panendoscopy
Eligibility Criteria
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
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Patients with upper gastrointestinal disorders
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Both males and females above 20 years old were included
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Patients who had signed Institutional Review Board (IRB) agreement
Exclusion Criteria:
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Patients who had not signed IRB agreement
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Patients who had hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis, or other systemic diseases
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Pregnant women
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Patient with acute infection
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Cognitive impaired, for example, cancer metastasis to brain or dementia
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Risk of temporomandibular joint dislocation
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Patients unable to protrude the tongue stably
Contacts and Locations
Locations
| Site | City | State | Country | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital | Kaohsiung | Taiwan | 833 |
Sponsors and Collaborators
- Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
- National Sun Yat-sen University
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: yu-chiang hung, Ph.D., Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
Study Documents (Full-Text)
None provided.More Information
Publications
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- 104-4725B