Computerized diagnosis from tongue appearance using quantitative feature classification

Abstract

This study investigates relationships between diseases and the appearance of the human tongue in terms of quantitative features. The experimental samples are digital tongue images captured from three groups of candidates: one group in normal health, one suffering with appendicitis, and a third suffering with pancreatitis. For the purposes of diagnostic classification, we first extract chromatic and textural measurements from original tongue images. A feature selection procedure then identifies the measures most relevant to the classifications, based on which of the three tongue image categories are clearly separated. This study validates the use of tongue inspection by means of quantitative feature classification in medical diagnosis.