Digital image processing: clinical applications and challenges in cosmetics

Digital image processing and analysis of medical images can effectively support medical diagnosis with valuable tools including automatic detection, recognition segmentation and measurement of visible entities of interest. This paper provides an overview of related clinical applications with focus on the analysis of skin disorders, extending to the limitedly explored field of cosmetics. Innovative applications and challenges are identified with respect to tissue quality and ageing measurement, as well as cosmetic recommendation systems. The impacts of research towards this direction could extend beyond the cosmetics industry.