Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) will start providing an image correction service for telehealth use. The new service facilitates easier diagnoses by physicians stationed at medical institutions that are remote to the patient. The patient attaches a small color chart(*1) of about 1 cm square, referred to as a CASMATCH to their cheek, or the affected area. This can be done while at home and removes the need for the patient to travel to a medical center. Hospital-based physicians can then view the patient's complexion, or color of the affected area on screen displays, and make a diagnosis.

DNP will provide the new service to companies that support the operation of online medical services at medical institutions.

[Service Background and Summary] 

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, patients visiting medical institutions constitutes an infection risk, and the need for telehealth-driven solutions is undergoing a sharp increase. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has permitted the use of telehealth and prescriptions for follow-up treatments from February 28, 2020, and similar approaches for first-time medical consultations since April 10. However, the images taken by patients at home while using telehealth may exhibit different colors and brightness depending on the performance of cameras, such as smartphones and tablet terminals, along with the effect of the ambient light during shooting. As a result, physicians performing consultations using their own computers have found it difficult to confirm the color of the patient’s face, or the affected part, based on such images.

In order to overcome these challenges, DNP has developed a system facilitating the display of patient images on a physician’s computer by correcting the color based on the CASMATCH when a patient photographs themselves and forwards the image to a dedicated server via the network. In order to meet this challenge, we have leveraged our know-how in reproducing “correct colors” developed over many years to provide image correction modules and software, beginning with test charts that form color standards for televisions and digital cameras.

In addition, the Company has completed the development of test charts to facilitate the shift from the existing international standard for High Definition Television (HDTV), a Broadcasting Service Television (BT) broadcasting standard known as BT.709, to the new international standard for high-definition 4K/8K images, known as BT.2020. The image correction service in this latest service launch leverages our long-standing experience and know-how in color correction.

[Service Overview]

• DNP's image correction service allows patients to attach the CASMATCH to their faces or hands, for example, and take photographs, then use special software to correct for the performance of the camera mounted on the equipment used, as well as color irregularities due to indoor lighting. As a result, it becomes possible to easily display multiple patient images while maintaining a specific color level on a remote computer.
• CASMATCH is printed on a 1mm scale, allowing doctors to adjust for size on a computer.
• CASMATCH will be marketed by Bear Medic Corporation, a marketer of medical devices. For further information please visit http://www.bearmedic-en.com/

[Looking Ahead] 

The DNP Group is working to leverage our strengths in printing and information to underpin safe and high-quality lifestyles, and to create value that supports the maintenance of lifelong health. At the same time, in addition to an online medical care service for specific health guidance that supports health management at business corporations, in the online medical care area we also provide medical imaging management systems, such as CT and MRI, along with a remote image diagnosis support service that takes images photographed at local clinics located in remote areas and transmits them to specialist radiology doctors for diagnosis.

The international standardization of telehealth will be promoted, the service improved and an acceleration of market penetration achieved in conjunction with the Medical Innovation Consortium, which boasts specialized medical knowledge and a substantial medical network. 

Looking ahead, DNP will promote research and development designed to capitalize on 8K ultra-high-definition images and wide-color gamut images for medical uses, and apply the knowledge and technology acquired to future online medical treatment to ensure safe and high-quality lifestyles.

*1 The color chart is a color standard that determines whether accurate colors can be reproduced when creating images. The color chart manufactured by DNP came into existence in line with the birth of the color television in the early 1960s, and is still used as a Japanese television broadcasting industry standard. DNP manufactures and markets color charts for broadcasting based on the technology developed through our printing business.

* Product prices, specifications and service contents mentioned in this news release are current as of the date of publication. They may be changed at any time without notice.