Colorimetric analysis of silicone cosmetic prostheses for upper-limb amputees.

Every year the Italian National Insurance Institute of Accidents on Work (INAIL) Prosthesis Centre manufactures more than 300 silicone cosmetic upper-limb prostheses that are aesthetically similar to patients' missing limbs; however, the prostheses have the following drawbacks: subjectivity in color choice, high production costs, and long time frames for patient tests and prosthesis production. In an attempt to minimize these factors, we performed a study to test various systems that automatically detect the color of human skin. Such a system would allow us to reproduce a patient's exact skin color for silicone cosmetic prostheses.