Infrared and ultraviolet reflectance measurements as an aid to the diagnosis of pigmented lesions of skin

Abstract

In a previous paper an evaluation was made of a method that attempted to differentiate between malignant melanomas and other kinds of pigmented lesions, by measuring the way in which the pigment in the lesions reflected ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation (Marshall, 1980). Measurements of ‘relative reflectance’ of 63 pigmented lesions were made by a photographic photometric method from photographs exposed by UV, IR and visible radiation using the patients' normal skin as a reference reflector. The results of a test using reflectance measurements of lesions were better than the results of clinical diagnoses by a mixed group of clinicians, and suggested that the method warranted further investigation. A second study was designed in which photographic photometry was used to measure absolute reflectance of IR, UV and visible radiation by pigmented lesions.