Research Article

Objective Endoscopic Analysis with Linked Color Imaging regarding Gastric Mucosal Atrophy: A Pilot Study

Figure 7

Visibility of the atrophic border examined with WLI and LCI in areas with very similar colors on WLI. Visibility was evaluated as color differences computed between sample areas of the atrophic and nonatrophic mucosae. Areas with similar colors on WLI were identified as those areas showing ΔE < 5 on WLI, based on the International Commission on Illumination 1976 (L, a, b) color space. In such areas, it is difficult to distinguish the atrophic border on WLI. A total of 11 points (evaluated in 7 patients) met this condition, and color differences expressed as ΔE were compared between WLI and LCI. ΔE values were significantly higher for LCI ( on exact Wilcoxon signed-rank test).