Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The use of digital information processing technology to regulate and analyze the tongue image is an important basis for research of traditional Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE: To predigest the processing arithmetic of tongue image utilized Matlab Image Processing Toolbox and to acquire the external information of tongue.
METHODS: A computer-based online search of Pubmed database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed) and Wanfang database (http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn) between 2000 and 2010 was performed for related articles with the key words of “Digital Tongue Image processing, matlab medical images” in English and Chinese. A total of 59 literatures were primarily obtained.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In the diagnostic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, the essence of disease is disorder of Yinyang, Qixue and Jinye which produces all kinds of pathologic states such as coldness and heat, deficiency and excessiveness. Tongue is regarded as a mirror to reflect healthly state of boby since it brings information on colness and heat, deficiency and excessiveness, dryness and humidness and other pathologic changes. This paper introduces the computer-related digital traditional Chinese medicine Tongue Image processing technology, and Matlab as a powerful simulation analysis software is widely used in scientific research and solve specific problems. The use of the Matlab toolbox to the digital traditional Chinese medicine Tongue Image processing is the advance of diagnostic theory of traditional Chinese Medicine, and provides helpful way for medical image analysis of traditional Chinese medicine.