Applied research of colorimetric in the teaching of tongue diagnosis

Objective To provide a quantitative program that can assess the teaching effectiveness of tongue diagnosis skills training. Methods 2116 cases were selected in the Medical Examination Center of Beijing TongRen Hospital who undergoes a health examination in June 2011 to December. By taking the digital tongue figure and extract the digital tongue color values (L*, a *, b *), this study used the colorimetric method to quantify the information of the tongue color. And cluster analysis method was used to get the cluster centers of the various types of tongue color. Results All types of tongue color gathered in lilac pink, pink, orange, pink color areas around. Three-dimensional scatter plot shows the data clustered for the 11 regions, visible in the tongue color category vector clearer state of aggregation, split between each other clear and gathered evenly. Conclusion Based on the colorimetric method this study not only offers the basis of quantization for the diagnosis of tongue color teaching but also found objective criteria for learning outcomes assessment.