Echogram detection of skin conditions

1. A method for detecting one or more skin conditions associated with a skin of a subject, the method comprising:

generating echogram data, comprising:

transmitting a series of acoustic pulses, wherein the series of acoustic pulses are directed at a surface of the skin, and wherein the series of acoustic pulses comprises a plurality of frequencies with at least one frequency being in the audible range;

receiving acoustic reflections corresponding to the acoustic pulses;

sampling the received acoustic reflections to generate samples; and

recording the samples as echogram data;

extracting by using a processor a subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic of the echogram data, wherein the subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic corresponds to a reflecting feature comprising at least one dimension smaller than a corresponding acoustic pulse wavelength from the series of acoustic pulses; and

identifying the one or more skin conditions that correspond to the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the one or more skin conditions comprises comparing the extracted sub-wavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein comparing the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to the library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics comprises sending the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a network node configured to perform the comparing.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions comprise one or more subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics associated with melanoma skin conditions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the series of acoustic pulses is a Hanning windowed chirp comprising a start frequency and an end frequency different from the start frequency.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising electronically communicating the echogram data to a medical service provider for further analysis.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics of the echogram data comprises extracting characteristics corresponding to Rayleigh scattering in the skin.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising producing a calibration pulse to calibrate a device for detecting the one or more skin conditions.

9. A mobile device configured to detect one or more skin conditions associated with a skin of a subject, the mobile device comprising:

an acoustic transducer;

a microphone; and

a processor arranged in cooperation with the transducer and microphone, wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit a series of acoustic pulses with the transducer, wherein the series of acoustic pulses are directable at a surface of the skin, and wherein the series comprises a plurality of frequencies with at least one frequency in the audible range;

sample acoustic reflections received with the microphone;

record the sampled acoustic reflections as echogram data;

extract one or more subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics of the echogram data; and

identify a skin condition corresponding to one or more of the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics, wherein the subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics correspond to a reflecting feature comprising at least one dimension smaller than a corresponding acoustic pulse wavelength from the series of acoustic pulses.

10. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to compare the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding the one or more skin conditions to identify the skin condition.

11. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to send the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a network node configured to perform the comparison.

12. The mobile device of claim 10 , the library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions comprises one or more subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics corresponding to one or more melanoma skin conditions.

13. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the series of acoustic pulses comprises Hanning windowed chirps, each chirp comprising a start frequency and an end frequency different from the start frequency.

14. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to electronically communicate the echogram data to a medical service provider for further analysis.

15. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to extract characteristics corresponding to Rayleigh scattering in the skin.

16. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to produce a calibration pulse with the transducer and measure acoustic reflections received at the microphone to calibrate the mobile device for detecting the one or more skin conditions.

17. The mobile device of claim 9 , wherein the acoustic transducer and microphone are integrated in the mobile device and are configured for voice communications.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer executable instructions, executable by a mobile device to detect one or more skin conditions associated with a skin of a subject, the instructions for the mobile device comprising:

instructions to transmit a series of acoustic pulses, wherein the series of acoustic pulses are directable at a surface of the skin, and wherein the series comprises a plurality of frequencies and at least one frequency in the audible range;

instructions to sample received acoustic reflections associated with the series of acoustic pulses;

instructions to record samples of the received acoustic reflections as echogram data; instructions to extract a subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic of the echogram data, wherein the subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic corresponds to a reflecting feature comprising at least one dimension smaller than a corresponding acoustic pulse wavelength from the series of acoustic pulses; and

instructions to identify the one or more skin conditions corresponding to an extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions to identify the one or more skin conditions comprise instructions to compare the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the instructions to compare the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions comprise instructions to send the extracted subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristic to a network node configured to perform the comparison.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the library of subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics and corresponding skin conditions comprises one or more subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics corresponding to one or more melanoma skin conditions.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the series of acoustic pulses comprises Hanning windowed chirps, each chirp comprising a start frequency and an end frequency different from the start frequency.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions to electronically communicate the echogram data to a medical service provider for further analysis.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the instructions extracting subwavelength acoustic reflection characteristics of the echogram data comprise instructions to extract characteristics corresponding to Rayleigh scattering in the skin.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions to produce a calibration pulse to calibrate the mobile device for detecting the one or more skin conditions.