A real-time hand tracking and multimedia-based system for breast self-examination: the simplified 3D hand model

Breast self-examination (BSE) is a non-invasive, self-administered and simple screening procedure for detecting breast cancer at an early stage. This procedure can be performed in private and at any time. A variety of leaflets and websites exist, which attempt to train women on how to perform BSE. There are also some learning systems consisting of videos and audio cassettes. However, there are no fully interactive systems in existence and no real-time feedback is given to a user on whether she is correctly performing the procedure. We aim to develop an intelligent interactive multimedia system incorporating pattern recognition and machine vision techniques, and provide real-time feedback to assist and guide women to perform BSE accurately. Using her hand in a specific configuration to conduct palpation of the breasts is the basic means available for a woman to perform BSE. However, a human hand is highly articulated and deformable with 27 degree-of-freedom parameters according to its anatomy. Recognising hand gestures and postures is a challenging task that has been studied in many areas and applications. In this paper, the simplified three-dimensional (3D) hand model is presented, which has only 8 degree-of-freedom parameters and is especially adapted for use with the breast self-examination system. This model will be a potentially effective simulation and tracking tool that will contribute to BSE learning and thus to the development of an intelligent fully interactive BSE system.