Systems and methods for using biomarker analysis for personalized skin care

Abstract

To provide systems and methods for improving skincare product formulations to address predicted skin trends.SOLUTION: A method includes: using a biomarker analysis system to determine concentrations of various protein biomarkers of a user; and causing a skin diagnosis computing device to use the protein biomarker concentrations to determine one or more skin trends, determine one or more skincare product ingredients to address the skin trends, and formulate a skincare product including the one or more skincare product ingredients. For example, protein biomarker concentration information for a subject is obtained, and is used to determine one or more skin trends likely to be experienced by the subject. Skincare product recommendations are generated based on the protein biomarker concentration information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 16 / 528,380, filed on July 31, 2019, and U.S. Application No. 16 / 528,196, filed on July 31, 2019, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the "Detailed Description of the Invention". This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0004] In some embodiments, a system for creating a custom skin care product is provided. The system includes a skin care product formulation device and a skin diagnosis computing device. The skin diagnosis computing device includes at least one processor and a non - transitory computer - readable medium. The non - transitory computer - readable medium has computer - executable instructions stored thereon that cause the skin diagnosis computing device to perform actions in response to execution by the at least one processor. The actions include obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, determining components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information, and transmitting the determined components of the at least one skin care product to the skin care product formulation device. The skin care product formulation device is configured to receive the determined components of the at least one skin care product and dispense a skin care product including the components of the at least one skin care product.

[0005] In some embodiments, a method for creating a custom skin care product is provided. A skin diagnosis computing device obtains protein biomarker concentration information. The skin diagnosis computing device determines the components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information. The skin diagnosis computing device transmits the determined components of at least one skin care product to a skin care product formulation device for creating a custom skin care product.

[0006] In some embodiments, a system for creating a custom skin care product is provided. The system includes a circuit for obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining the components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information, and a circuit for transmitting the determined components of at least one skin care product to a skin care product formulation device for creating a custom skin care product.

[0007] In some embodiments, a computer-implemented method for providing skin care product recommendations to a subject is provided. A computing device obtains protein biomarker concentration information. The computing device determines at least one skin trend based on the protein biomarker concentration information. The computing device determines at least one skin care product associated with the at least one skin trend. The computing device presents a recommendation for the at least one skin care product via a display.

[0008] In some embodiments, a system for providing recommendations of skin care products to a subject is provided. The system includes a circuit for obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining at least one skin tendency based on the protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining at least one skin care product associated with the at least one skin tendency, and a circuit for presenting a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display.

[0009] In some embodiments, a computing device is provided that is configured to provide a recommendation of a skin care product to a subject by obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, determining at least one skin tendency based on the protein biomarker concentration information, determining at least one skin care product associated with the at least one skin tendency, and presenting a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010] Many of the above aspects and attendant advantages of the present invention will become better understood and more readily appreciated when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and reference is made to the following detailed description of the invention.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Currently, the medical field is advancing due to the spread of biomarker analysis systems. The systems can be operated in outpatient or clinical settings and can provide non-invasive measurements of various protein concentrations. These protein concentrations can then be used for various treatment-related purposes. Through clinical research, it has been confirmed that specific proteins detectable by such biomarker analysis systems are related to clinical symptoms of aging and responsiveness / non-responsiveness to various active ingredients in skincare products. For example, biomarkers such as YKL40, TG3, LCN1, IDE, and FLG2 have been found to be correlated with clinical symptoms of aging and responsiveness (such as shiny skin, rough skin, skin color unevenness, eye wrinkles, photoaging, loss of elasticity, enlarged pores, responsiveness to retinol, and responsiveness to proxylan, etc.).

[0019] Even though these correlations have been identified, the biomarker analysis system only provides the raw protein concentration information and does not use these correlations. Systems and methods for improving the formulation of skincare products to address predicted skin trends using biomarker concentration information are desired. Also, systems and methods for generating skincare product recommendations using biomarker concentration information and improving such recommendations to address predicted skin trends are desired.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a high-level schematic diagram showing various components of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The system shown in FIG. 1 obtains a sample from user 90, generates a prescription for a skin care product based on skin trends determined based on the sample, and is used to improve the prescription of the skin care product over time. As shown, one or more sampling disks 102, 104 are used to obtain a sample from user 90. Next, sampling disk 104 is processed by protein extraction device 208, and the collected sample is set in test cartridge 108. Test cartridge 108 is inserted into immunoassay analysis device 106. Immunoassay analysis device 106 determines the concentrations of various protein biomarkers associated with various skin trends. Next, the protein biomarker concentration information is provided to skin diagnosis computing device 110 to determine the existing skin trends. Based on the detected skin trends, skin care product formulation device 112 is used to create a custom skin care product to address the skin trends, and user 90 can use the custom skin care product. Feedback regarding the effectiveness of the custom skin care product may be returned to skin diagnosis computing device 110 or skin care product formulation device 112 to improve future custom skin care products.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing details of an exemplary embodiment of a biomarker analysis system, a skin diagnosis computing device, and a skin care product formulation device according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] In some embodiments, the biomarker analysis system 202 includes one or more devices that enable the measurement of biomarkers sampled from a subject. In some embodiments, such sampling is performed quickly and non-invasively. Accordingly, it becomes possible to perform biomarker sampling in an outpatient clinical environment or a retail environment. In the illustrated embodiment, the biomarker analysis system 202 includes a sampling disk 204, a test cartridge 206, a protein extraction device 208, and an immunoassay analysis device 210.

[0023] In some embodiments, the sampling disk 204 has a substrate and an adhesive. The adhesive is suitable for removably attaching the sampling disk 204 to the subject's skin and obtaining a sample of skin cells therefrom. Although the sampling disk 204 is described, in some embodiments, other shaped adhesive devices including, but not limited to, rectangles or tapes may be used. In some embodiments, instead of an adhesive device, a cotton swab, wipe, or other device that can be used to collect a skin cell sample may be used. A non-limiting example of a device suitable for use as the sampling disk 204 is the D-SQUAME® sampling disk manufactured by CuDerm Corporation, although other devices may be used.

[0024] In some embodiments, the protein extraction device 208 is configured to remove a sample from the sampling disk 204 and convert the sample into a form that can be provided to the test cartridge 206 for processing steps. In some embodiments, the protein extraction device 208 may include a container into which the sampling disk 204 can be placed with a buffer solution. The protein extraction device 208 may also include a device for processing the container, such as by stirring, centrifuging, or other means, so that the protein from the collected skin sample is released from the sampling disk 204 and dissolved in the buffer solution.

[0025] In some embodiments, the test cartridge 206 is approximately the size of a credit card and includes an inlet where a droplet (about 30 μl) of a solution containing the proteins of the collected skin sample can be placed. The inlet may be coupled to one or more microfluidic channels through which the solution automatically flows. In some embodiments, antibodies may be attached within one or more microfluidic channels and the antigens in the sample may be reacted with the antibodies. This reaction may cause the fluorescent beads associated with the antibodies to fluoresce depending on the concentration of the protein being measured. The immunoassay analysis device 210 can receive the test cartridge 206 and measure the concentration of the target protein in the sample. In some embodiments, the immunoassay analysis device 210 can measure the protein concentration by using a laser light to determine which fluorescent beads are fluorescing. Once measured, the immunoassay analysis device 210 can provide the determined protein concentration to other components of the system using any suitable technique. Any suitable technique includes, but is not limited to, techniques for presenting the protein concentration on a display, printing the protein concentration on a paper receipt, and electronically transmitting the determined protein concentration to another device. A non-limiting example of the immunoassay analysis device 210 (and its associated test cartridge 206) is the FREND system provided by NanoEnTek Inc.

[0026] In some embodiments, the skin diagnosis computing device 212 is a computing device configured to receive protein concentration information from the biomarker analysis system 202, determine one or more skin trends based on the protein concentration information, and determine the ingredients of a recommended product based on the protein concentration information (and, in some embodiments, additional information collected by the skin diagnosis computing device 212). The skin diagnosis computing device 212 may then provide the ingredients of the recommended product to the skin care product formulation device 222 to create a customized product, and may also receive feedback regarding the customized product to improve future product ingredient recommendations.

[0027] In some embodiments, the skin diagnosis computing device 212 can be a mobile computing device such as a smartphone or a tablet computing device. In some embodiments, the skin diagnosis computing device 212 may be a desktop computing device or a laptop computing device. In some embodiments, the skin diagnosis computing device 212 may include two or more computing devices. The two or more computing devices may be a user computing device configured to provide a user interface and one or more server computing devices configured to provide computing functions (such as the functions of the trend determination engine 214 and / or the ingredient determination engine 216 described below). In such embodiments, the user computing device and the one or more server computing devices can communicate via any suitable one or more communication technologies. Any suitable one or more communication technologies may include wired technologies (including, but not limited to, Ethernet®, USB, or the Internet) or wireless technologies (including, but not limited to, WiFi®, WiMAX®, 3G, 4G, LTE, or Bluetooth®).

[0028] As shown, the skin diagnosis computing device 212 includes a trend determination engine 214, a component determination engine 216, a feedback processing engine 218, and a product data store 220.

[0029] In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 214 is configured to receive protein biomarker concentration information from a biomarker analysis system and determine skin trends using clinically determined correlation information.

[0030] In some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 is configured to receive skin trend information and determine the components of one or more skin care products based on the skin trend information. In some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 may directly use the protein biomarker concentration information to determine the components of the skin care products. Also, in some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 can present a questionnaire that provides environmental information related to the user 90 to collect additional information and notify the selection of the components of the skin care products. However, the method of collecting additional information is not limited to this. Also, in some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 also provides the components of the selected skin care products to the skin care product formulation device 222.

[0031] In some embodiments, the feedback processing engine 218 receives information from the user 90 regarding the effectiveness of a custom skin care product produced from the instructions provided by the component determination engine 216. The feedback processing engine 218 can store the information, and in some embodiments, the feedback processing engine 218 can use the stored information to improve the selection of skin care product components in the future.

[0032] In some embodiments, the product data store 220 can be used to store relevant information for each user 90, including but not limited to protein biomarker concentration information, additional information collected by the ingredient determination engine 216, skin trends determined by the trend determination engine 214, ingredients of the skin care product selected by the ingredient determination engine 216, and feedback collected by the feedback processing engine 218.

[0033] In some embodiments, the skin care product formulation device 222 is configured to receive an indication of the ingredients to be included in a custom skin care product generated by the skin diagnosis computing device 212. The skin care product formulation device 222 then generates and packages a custom skin care product. A non-limiting example of a skin care product formulation device 222 suitable for use in embodiments of the present disclosure is the Custom D.O.S.E. system provided by SkinCeuticals.

[0034] As shown, the skin care product formulation device 222 includes an ingredient dispensing device 224, a mixing device 226, and a packaging device 228. In some embodiments, the ingredient dispensing device 224 includes one or more components such as pumps, droppers, pipettes, and spoons that can dispense ingredients from an ingredient storage section associated with the skin care product formulation device. In some embodiments, the mixing device 226 is configured to receive ingredients from the ingredient dispensing device 224 and formulate a final product by performing operations such as (but not limited to) grinding, stirring, and compressing. In some embodiments, the packaging device 228 can be configured to receive the formulated product from the mixing device 226 and place it in a container for delivery to the user 90. Also, in some embodiments, the packaging device 228 may be configured to seal and / or label the container.

[0035] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing a method of generating a custom skin care product according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Starting from the start block, method 300 proceeds to step block 302 where a procedure of obtaining protein biomarker concentration information of a subject by the biomarker analysis system 202 is executed. Protein biomarker concentration information can be collected using any suitable procedure, including but not limited to the procedure 400 illustrated in Figure 4 and described below.

[0036] In block 304, the trend determination engine 214 of the skin diagnosis computing device 212 receives the protein biomarker concentration information. In some embodiments, the protein biomarker concentration information is received by the trend determination engine 214 from the biomarker analysis system 202 via a network. The network may be a wireless network including, but not limited to, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) network, a cellular network (including but not limited to a 3G network, a 4G network, a 5G network, or an LTE (registered trademark) network), or a Bluetooth (registered trademark) network, a wired network including, but not limited to, an Ethernet (registered trademark) network, a USB network, or a FireWire (registered trademark) network, and / or any other type of network. In some embodiments, the protein biomarker concentration information may be displayed by a display device (not shown) of the biomarker analysis system 202, the protein biomarker concentration information may be manually input into an interface associated with the skin diagnosis computing device 212, or may be captured from the display device of the biomarker analysis system 202 by a camera of the skin diagnosis computing device 212.

[0037] In block 306, the trend determination engine 214 determines at least one skin trend based on protein biomarker concentration information. Preliminary clinical studies have suggested an association between five biomarkers (FLG2, TG3, IDE, LCN1, and YKL40) and clinical symptoms of aging. Examples (ROC curves) of the predictive ability of these biomarkers for various clinical symptoms of aging are as shown in Table 1.

[0038] [Table 1]

[0039] Also, preliminary studies have suggested an association between the biomarkers and whether a subject is a responder or non-responder to retinol or proxylan. In preliminary clinical studies, the YKL40 and TG3 biomarkers have been shown to indicate that a subject responds to retinol for the improvement of under-eye wrinkles, the TG3 and LCN1 biomarkers have been shown to indicate that a subject responds to retinol for the improvement of facial skin dyschromia, and the YKL40 biomarker has been shown to indicate that a subject responds to proxylan for the improvement of erythrosis. In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 214 uses one or more of these clinically suggested relationships and biomarker concentration information to predict one or more facial aging trends based on the biomarker concentration information. In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 214 can store the biomarker concentration information and / or the predicted facial aging trend / skin trend in the product data store 220.

[0040] Next, method 300 proceeds to block 308, where the ingredient determination engine 216 of the skin diagnosis computing device 212 presents a questionnaire to the subject and receives responses to one or more questions of the questionnaire. The ingredient determination engine 216 can present the questionnaire to the subject using any suitable technique. In a non-limiting example, the ingredient determination engine 216 can present a user interface including the questionnaire questions on a display device (not shown) of the skin diagnosis computing device 212 and receive responses via one or more human-machine interaction (HMI) devices (not shown) of the skin diagnosis computing device 212. The one or more human-machine interaction devices include, but are not limited to, touchscreens, keyboards, mice, and voice input systems. In another non-limiting example, the ingredient determination engine 216 may present audible questions via a loudspeaker (not shown) of the skin diagnosis computing device 212 and receive responses via a microphone or a voice recognition system (not shown). In yet another non-limiting example, the questionnaire may be presented in paper or other physical embodiments, the subject may answer the questions on paper, and the skin diagnosis computing device 212 may scan the answers from the paper using a camera (not shown), a laser scanner, or other suitable devices incorporated in or communicatively coupled to the skin diagnosis computing device 212. In some embodiments, the responses to the questionnaire questions are stored on a computer-readable medium accessible to the ingredient determination engine 216. In some embodiments, the questionnaire questions relate to environmental and / or behavioral factors that are likely to affect either the facial aging tendency or the effectiveness of the ingredients of a given product. Such environmental and / or behavioral factors include, but are not limited to, climate, humidity, stress level, sun exposure, diet, hydration, and smoking status.

[0041] In block 310, the component determination engine 216 determines the components of one or more skin care products based on protein biomarker concentration information and / or responses. As a non-limiting example, the components of a particular skin care product can be associated with specific skin tendencies to be addressed. Thus, if there are skin tendencies based on protein biomarker concentration information, the components of a particular skin care product may be included by default. As another non-limiting example, if some of the components of a skin care product can be used to address two or more skin tendencies, an optimal combination of the components of the skin care product may be included based on multiple skin tendencies. As yet another non-limiting example, if there are opposing effects, a combination of components that achieves an optimal overall effect in treating a combination of skin tendencies can be included (e.g., if the components of a first skin care product improve a first skin tendency and a second skin tendency but worsen a third skin tendency, the components of a second skin care product may be included to address the third skin tendency, or instead of the components of the first skin care product, the components of a third skin care product that address the first skin tendency or the second skin tendency may be included to avoid worsening of the third skin tendency). As yet another non-limiting example, the protein biomarker concentration information can be used to select the components of a skin care product based on the presence or absence of responsiveness to the components of a particular skin care product. In all of the above cases where the step of selecting the components of a skin care product based on skin tendencies or protein biomarker concentration information has been described, in some embodiments, the selection may instead be made based on responses to a questionnaire, or based on both protein biomarker concentration information and responses to a questionnaire.

[0042] In block 312, the ingredient determination engine 216 transmits the ingredients of one or more skin care products to the skin care product formulation device 222. In some embodiments, the identity of the ingredients, the amount of the ingredients, the relative concentration of the ingredients, the type of medium for delivery, instructions for formulation, instructions for application, and / or other relevant information regarding the formulation and use of the custom skin care product may be transmitted by the ingredient determination engine 216. In some embodiments, the information is electronically transmitted using any of the wired or wireless technologies described herein. In some embodiments, the ingredient determination engine 216 may cause the information to be presented on the display of the skin diagnosis computing device 212, or may cause the information to be manually entered into the interface of the skin care product formulation device 222. In some embodiments, the ingredient determination engine 216 can print the information in hard copy form and deliver the form to the skin care product formulation device 222 for registration. Also, in some embodiments, the ingredient determination engine 216 can store the information in the product data store 220.

[0043] In block 314, the skin care product formulation device 222 formulates and packages a custom skin care product that includes the ingredients of one or more skin care products. In some embodiments, the skin care product formulation device 222 can combine one or more ingredients of a liquid, gel, powder, solution, suspension, serum, or other skin care product as specified by the information received from the ingredient determination engine 216. In some embodiments, the skin care product formulation device 222 dispenses the formulated custom skin care product into a container, seals the container, and can label the container with one or more of a set of the identification of the user 90, a list of the ingredients of the custom skin care product, and instructions for use of the custom skin care product. The packaged custom skin care product is provided to the subject for use.

[0044] In block 316, the feedback processing engine 218 of the skin diagnosis computing device 212 receives feedback from the subject regarding the custom skin care product. In some embodiments, the subject provides feedback as an answer to another questionnaire provided by a component of the skin diagnosis computing device 212, such as the feedback processing engine 218. In some embodiments, the questionnaire may include subjective feedback from the subject regarding the subject's satisfaction with the custom skin care product. In some embodiments, the feedback may be objective feedback received from a skin care expert, or may be obtained by retesting biomarkers using the biomarker analysis system 202. In some embodiments, the feedback can be directly input into the skin diagnosis computing device 212. In other embodiments, the feedback is collected by another device (such as the biomarker analysis system 202 or the subject's computing device) and then provided to the skin diagnosis computing device 212 using any suitable technique.

[0045] In block 318, the feedback processing engine 218 updates the component determination engine 216 based on the feedback. In some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 can use the feedback to update the effectiveness stored for each component of the custom skin care product (e.g., increasing the stored effectiveness for the skin trend if the skin trend has improved with use, or decreasing the stored effectiveness for the skin trend if the skin trend has not improved with use). In some embodiments, the component determination engine 216 may use the feedback as training data for a machine learning system. The machine learning system is used to select components based on protein biomarker concentration information, questionnaire answers, and / or skin trends.

[0046] Thereafter, method 300 proceeds to the end block and ends.

[0047] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an exemplary embodiment of a procedure for obtaining protein biomarker concentration information according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Procedure 402 is a non-limiting example of a procedure suitable for use in block 302 of FIG. 3 to obtain protein biomarker concentration information of a subject.

[0048] Starting from the start block, procedure 400 proceeds to block 402 to obtain a sample from the subject using sampling disk 204. In some embodiments, sampling disk 204 can be attached to the subject's skin via an adhesive. In some embodiments, sampling disk 204 can absorb substances such as sweat, sebum, and other skin secretions. In some embodiments, the adhesive of sampling disk 204 can collect muscle cells from the subject's skin. In some embodiments, sampling disk 204 can be placed on the skin multiple times and removed to collect a muscle sample. In some embodiments, a weight or pressure may be applied on sampling disk 204 and / or sampling disk 204 may be left in place for a specific time to obtain a consistent sample.

[0049] Next, at block 404, protein extraction device 208 extracts the protein into a solution from the sampling disk. In some embodiments, protein extraction device 208 may add a solution to the sampling disk to dissolve muscle cells, skin secretions, or other sampled substances in the solution. In some embodiments, sampling disk 204 is placed in a buffer and then shaken so that the muscle sample is dissolved in the solution.

[0050] At block 406, a solution is attached to test cartridge 206. In some embodiments, droplets of a solution created by protein extraction device 208 containing protein from a sampling disk are placed at the inlet of test cartridge 206. At block 408, proteomic analysis is performed on test cartridge 206 by immunoassay analysis device 210, generating protein biomarker concentration information. In some embodiments, test cartridge 206 is inserted into immunoassay analysis device 210. Immunoassay analysis device 210 measures fluorescent beads using laser light, thereby determining the concentration of protein biomarkers in the skin sample. Next, procedure 400 proceeds to the end block and ends. To enable the protein biomarker concentration information to be used for creating and updating skin care product formulations (or for any other purpose), the protein biomarker concentration information may be displayed on the screen of immunoassay analysis device 210, electronically transmitted to another device, or provided to another device in some other way.

[0051] FIG. 5 is a high-level schematic diagram showing various components of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The system shown in FIG. 5 obtains a sample from user 90, generates a recommendation for a skin care product based on the sample, and is used to improve the recommendation over time. As shown, one or more sampling disks 102, 104 are used to obtain a sample from user 90. Sampling disk 104 is then processed by protein extraction device 208 and sets the collected sample in test cartridge 108. Test cartridge 108 is inserted into immunoassay analysis device 106. Immunoassay analysis device 106 determines the concentration of various protein biomarkers associated with various skin trends. The determination of various protein biomarkers is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is the same as that described above.

[0052] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, protein biomarker concentration information is provided to product recommendation computing device 510, and the existing skin trends are determined. Based on the detected skin trends, product recommendation computing device 510 provides recommendations for one or more skin care products to address the skin trends. Also, product recommendation computing device 510 can receive feedback on the recommended one or more skin care products and use this feedback to improve recommendations for future requests.

[0053] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing further details of an exemplary embodiment of a product recommendation computing device according to various aspects of the present disclosure. The system shown in FIG. 5 uses biomarker analysis system 202, which is the same as that shown in FIG. 2 and described in detail above. Therefore, for the sake of brevity, the biomarker analysis system is not described again here.

[0054] In some embodiments, product recommendation computing device 612 is a computing device configured to receive protein concentration information from biomarker analysis system 202, determine one or more skin trends based on the protein concentration information, and determine product recommendations based on the protein concentration information. Also, in some embodiments, product recommendation computing device 612 is also configured to receive feedback on the recommended products and then use product recommendation computing device 612 to improve recommendations for future products.

[0055] In some embodiments, the product recommendation computing device 612 may be a mobile computing device such as a smartphone or a tablet computing device. In some embodiments, the product recommendation computing device 612 may be a desktop computing device or a laptop computing device. In some embodiments, the product recommendation computing device 612 may include two or more computing devices. The two or more computing devices include a user computing device configured to provide a user interface and one or more server computing devices configured to provide computing functions (such as the functions of the trend determination engine 614 and / or the product recommendation engine 616 described below). In such embodiments, the user computing device and the one or more server computing devices can communicate using any suitable one or more communication technologies. The any suitable one or more communication technologies include wired technologies (including but not limited to Ethernet (registered trademark), USB, or the Internet) or wireless technologies (including but not limited to WiFi (registered trademark), WiMAX (registered trademark), 3G, 4G, LTE (registered trademark), or Bluetooth (registered trademark)).

[0056] In the illustrated embodiment, the product recommendation computing device 612 includes a trend determination engine 614, a product recommendation engine 616, a display device 618, and a product data store 620.

[0057] In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 614 is configured to receive protein biomarker concentration information from a biomarker analysis system and determine skin trends using clinically determined correlation information.

[0058] In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 is configured to receive skin trend information and determine one or more products based on the skin trend information. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 may directly use the protein biomarker concentration information to determine one or more products. Also, in some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 can present a questionnaire that provides environmental information related to the user 90 to collect additional information and notify the selection of one or more products. However, the method of collecting additional information is not limited to this. Also, in some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 can collect feedback on one or more products selected by the user 90 and use this feedback to improve future product recommendations for the user 90 and other users.

[0059] In some embodiments, the display device 618 may be an LED display, an OLED display, or another type of display that presents a user interface to the user 90. The user interface may include an introduction of the recommended product and may also include a form or other type of interface that enables the user 90 to provide feedback on the recommended product.

[0060] In some embodiments, the product data store 620 can be used to store relevant information for each user 90, including but not limited to protein biomarker concentration information, skin trends determined by the trend determination engine 614, one or more products recommended by the product recommendation engine 616, and feedback collected by the product recommendation engine 616.

[0061] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an exemplary embodiment of a method for presenting recommendations for skin care products according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Starting from the start block, method 700 proceeds to step block 702 where biomarker analysis system 202 executes a procedure to obtain protein biomarker concentration information of the subject. To collect protein biomarker concentration information, any suitable procedure shown in FIG. 4 and including, but not limited to, the above-described procedure 400 can be used.

[0062] In block 704, the trend determination engine 614 of the product recommendation computing device 612 receives the protein biomarker concentration information. In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 614 receives the protein biomarker concentration information from the biomarker analysis system 202 via a network. The network may be a wireless network including, but not limited to, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) network, a cellular network (including, but not limited to, a 3G network, a 4G network, a 5G network, or an LTE (registered trademark) network), or a Bluetooth (registered trademark) network, a wired network including, but not limited to, an Ethernet (registered trademark) network, a USB network, or a FireWire (registered trademark) network, and / or any other type of network. In some embodiments, the protein biomarker concentration information may be displayed by a display device (not shown) of the biomarker analysis system 202, the protein biomarker concentration information may be manually input into an interface presented by the display device 618, or captured by a camera of the product recommendation computing device 612 from the display device of the biomarker analysis system 202.

[0063] In block 706, the trend determination engine 614 determines at least one skin trend based on protein biomarker concentration information. As described above, preliminary clinical studies have suggested a relationship between five biomarkers (FLG2, TG3, IDE, LCN1, and YKL40) and the clinical symptoms of aging, and also a relationship between the biomarkers and whether the subject is a responder or non-responder to retinol or proxylan. In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 614 uses one or more of these clinically suggested relationships and the biomarker concentration information to predict one or more facial aging trends based on the biomarker concentration information. In some embodiments, the trend determination engine 614 may store the biomarker concentration information and / or the predicted facial aging trend / skin trend in the product data store 620.

[0064] In block 708, the product recommendation engine 616 of the product recommendation computing device 612 determines at least one product to address at least one skin tendency using the information within the product data store 620. In some embodiments, the product data store 620 stores records identifying a plurality of products, and each record can associate a given product with one or more skin tendencies addressed by the given product. Also, each record may include one or more ingredients present in the given product. Further, the product data store 620 can store records regarding which users received recommendations for which products and can store records regarding feedback received from users regarding the recommended products. Also, in some embodiments, the product data store 620 may store information regarding the user himself or herself, including but not limited to age, gender, demographic information, and location, and can be used to group the user with other similar users based on the stored information. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 uses the record of previous recommendations, the received feedback, and the information about the user as inputs to a collaborative filter, a content-based filter, or a hybrid filter to generate a recommendation for user 90 to address the at least one detected skin tendency.

[0065] In block 710, the product recommendation computing device 612 presents a recommendation for at least one product on the display device 618 of the product recommendation computing device 612. In some embodiments, the recommendation may be presented as a link to a web page or an app where user 90 can purchase the at least one product recommended. In some embodiments, the recommendation may be presented as instructions regarding how to obtain the product from a retailer.

[0066] In block 712, the product recommendation engine 616 receives feedback about at least one product and stores the feedback in the product data store 620. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 may use the display device 618 to present a feedback form to the user 90 through feedback collection, and the feedback form may be presented at a future time after the user 90 has had the opportunity to use at least one product. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 can collect implicit feedback by monitoring the purchases made by the user 90 and attributing a positive feedback value to additional purchases of at least one recommended product. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 may collect feedback by evaluating social media posts by the user 90 that mention at least one product and performing sentiment analysis on the posts. In some embodiments, the product recommendation engine 616 may collect feedback by receiving future analysis results from the biomarker analysis system 202 and the trend determination engine 614, and may determine the feedback based on whether the detected skin trends have been addressed. In some embodiments, the feedback stored in the product data store 620 is used by the collaborative filter, content-based filter, or hybrid filter of the product recommendation engine 616 to improve future recommendations.

[0067] The method 700 then proceeds to an end block and ends.

[0068] Although the exemplary embodiments have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that various changes can be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0069] Example Set 1 <Claim 1>A system for creating a custom skin care product, comprising a skin care product formulation device, and Comprising a muscle diagnosis computing device, The muscle diagnosis computing device, Comprises at least one processor, and A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that cause the muscle diagnosis computing device to perform an action in response to execution by the at least one processor, The action includes Obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, Determining the components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information, and Transmitting the determined components of the at least one skin care product to a skin care product formulation device, The skin care product formulation device, Receives the determined components of the at least one skin care product, A system configured to dispense a skin care product including the determined components of the at least one skin care product. <Claim 2>The system according to claim 1, wherein the action further includes Presenting a questionnaire, and Receiving answers to the questions of the questionnaire, The system wherein the determination of the components of the at least one skin care product is further based on the answers. <Claim 3>The system according to claim 2, wherein The questionnaire includes questions regarding at least one of climate, humidity, stress level, and smoking status. <Claim 4>The system according to claim 1, wherein The step of determining the components of at least one skin care product includes using a recommendation engine that determines the components of skin care products used by subjects having similar characteristics. <Claim 5>The system according to claim 4, wherein the action Receiving feedback on skin care products from a subject, and The system further comprising updating the recommendation engine based on the feedback. <Claim 6>The system according to claim 1, wherein The skin diagnosis computing device is a smartphone or a tablet computing device. <Claim 7>The system according to claim 1, wherein The system further comprises an immunoassay analysis device configured to generate the protein biomarker concentration information from a sample provided by a subject. <Claim 8>A method for producing a custom skin care product, comprising: Obtaining protein biomarker concentration information by a skin diagnosis computing device; Determining, by the skin diagnosis computing device, components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information; and Transmitting, by the skin diagnosis computing device, the determined components of at least one skin care product to a skin care product formulation device to produce a custom skin care product. <Claim 9>The method according to claim 8, further comprising: Receiving, by the skin care product formulation device, the determined components of at least one skin care product; and Dispensing, by the skin care product formulation device, the custom skin care product comprising the components of at least one skin care product. <Claim 10>The method according to claim 8, further comprising: Presenting, by the skin diagnosis computing device, a questionnaire; and Receiving, by the skin diagnosis computing device, responses to the questions of the questionnaire. A method for determining the components of the at least one skin care product, further based on the response. <Claim 11> The method according to claim 10, wherein the questionnaire includes questions regarding at least one of climate, humidity, stress level, and smoking status. <Claim 12> The method according to claim 8, wherein the step of determining the components of the at least one skin care product includes using a recommendation engine that determines the components of skin care products used by subjects having similar characteristics. <Claim 13> The method according to claim 12, wherein receiving feedback on skin care products from the subject by the skin diagnosis computing device, and further including the step of updating the recommendation engine based on the feedback by the skin diagnosis computer device. <Claim 14> A system for manufacturing a custom skin care product, comprising a circuit for obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining the components of at least one skin care product based on the protein biomarker concentration information, and a circuit for transmitting the determined components of the at least one skin care product to a skin care product formulation device for manufacturing a custom skin care product. <Claim 15> The system according to claim 14, further comprising a circuit for receiving the determined components of the at least one skin care product, and a circuit for dispensing the custom skin care product including the components of the at least one skin care product. <Claim 16> The system according to claim 14, further comprising a circuit for presenting a questionnaire, and further comprising a circuit for receiving an answer to the questionnaire question a system, wherein determination of the components of the at least one skin care product is further based on the answer <Claim 17>A system according to claim 16, wherein the questionnaire includes questions regarding at least one of climate, humidity, stress level, and smoking status <Claim 18>A system according to claim 14, wherein the step of determining the components of the at least one skin care product includes using a recommendation engine that determines the components of skin care products used by subjects having similar characteristics <Claim 19>A system according to claim 18, further comprising a circuit for receiving feedback on skin care products from a subject, and further comprising a circuit for updating the recommendation engine based on the feedback <Claim 20>A system according to claim 14, further comprising a circuit for receiving the protein biomarker concentration information from an immunoassay analysis device

[0070] Example set 2 <Claim 1>A computer-implemented method for providing a recommendation of a skin care product for a subject, comprising obtaining, by a computing device, protein biomarker concentration information determining, by the computing device, at least one skin tendency based on the protein biomarker concentration information determining, by the computing device, at least one skin care product related to the at least one skin tendency, and presenting, by the computing device, a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display <Claim 2>The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining the at least one skin care product includes providing the at least one skin tendency and information related to the subject to a recommendation engine. <Claim 3>The method according to claim 2, wherein the recommendation engine generates recommendations using at least one of a collaborative filter, a content-based filter, and a hybrid filter. <Claim 4>The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further includes receiving feedback on the at least one skin care product, and updating the recommendation engine using the feedback. <Claim 5>The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further includes receiving responses to one or more questionnaires, and determination of the at least one skin tendency is further based on the responses to the one or more questionnaires. <Claim 6>The method according to claim 1, wherein the protein biomarker concentration information includes information on the concentration of at least one of the FLG2 biomarker, the TG3 biomarker, the IDE biomarker, the LCN1 biomarker, and the YKL40 biomarker. <Claim 7>The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the protein biomarker concentration information includes receiving the protein biomarker information from an immunoassay analysis device. <Claim 8>The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one skin tendency includes the occurrence of at least one of shiny skin, rough skin, uneven skin color, eye wrinkles, photoaging, loss of elasticity, and enlarged pores. <Claim 9>The method according to claim 1, wherein A method, wherein the computing device is a smartphone or a tablet computing device. <Claim 10>A system for providing a recommendation of a skin care product for a subject, a circuit for obtaining protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining at least one skin tendency based on the protein biomarker concentration information, a circuit for determining at least one skin care product related to the at least one skin tendency, and a circuit for presenting a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display. <Claim 11>The system according to claim 10, wherein the step of determining the at least one skin care product includes providing the at least one skin tendency and information related to the subject to a recommendation engine. <Claim 12>The system according to claim 11, wherein the recommendation engine generates a recommendation using at least one of a collaborative filter, a content-based filter, and a hybrid filter. <Claim 13>The system according to claim 11, a circuit for receiving feedback on the at least one skin care product, and further comprising a circuit for updating the recommendation engine using the feedback. <Claim 14>The system according to claim 10, further comprising a circuit for receiving responses to one or more questionnaires, wherein the determination of the at least one skin tendency is further based on the responses to the one or more questionnaires. <Claim 15>The system according to claim 10, A system, wherein the protein biomarker concentration information includes information about the concentration of at least one of the FLG2 biomarker, TG3 biomarker, IDE biomarker, LCN1 biomarker, and YKL40 biomarker. <Claim 16>The system according to claim 10, wherein The step of obtaining the protein biomarker concentration information includes receiving the protein biomarker information from an immunoassay analysis device. <Claim 17>The system according to claim 10, wherein The at least one skin tendency includes the occurrence of at least one of shiny skin, rough skin, uneven skin color, eye wrinkles, photoaging, loss of elasticity, and enlarged pores. <Claim 18>The system according to claim 10, wherein The circuit is included in a smartphone or a tablet computing device. <Claim 19>A computing device configured to provide a recommendation of a skin care product for a subject, wherein The computing device obtains protein biomarker concentration information, The computing device determines at least one skin tendency based on the protein biomarker concentration information, The computing device determines at least one skin care product related to the at least one skin tendency, and The computing device is configured to provide a recommendation by presenting a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display. <Claim 20>The computing device according to claim 19, wherein The step of determining the at least one skin care product includes providing the at least one skin tendency and information related to the subject to a recommendation engine. <Claim 21>A computing device according to claim 20, wherein the recommendation engine generates recommendations using at least one of a collaborative filter, a content-based filter, and a hybrid filter. <Claim 22>A computing device according to claim 20, wherein the computing device is further configured to receive feedback on the at least one skin care product, and further configured to update the recommendation engine using the feedback. <Claim 23>A computing device according to claim 19, wherein the computing device is further configured to receive responses to one or more questionnaires, and wherein the determination of the at least one skin tendency is further based on the responses to the one or more questionnaires. <Claim 24>A computing device according to claim 19, wherein the protein biomarker concentration information includes information on the concentration of at least one of the FLG2 biomarker, the TG3 biomarker, the IDE biomarker, the LCN1 biomarker, and the YKL40 biomarker. <Claim 25>A computing device according to claim 19, wherein the step of obtaining the protein biomarker concentration information includes receiving the protein biomarker information from an immunoassay analysis device. <Claim 26>A computing device according to claim 19, wherein the at least one skin tendency includes the occurrence of at least one of shiny skin, rough skin, skin color unevenness, eye wrinkles, photoaging, loss of elasticity, and enlarged pores. <Claim 27>A computing device according to claim 19, The computing device is a device that is a smartphone or a tablet computing device.

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for providing skin care product recommendations to a subject, comprising: obtaining, by a computing device, protein biomarker concentration information from the immunoassay analysis device; determining, by the computing device, at least one predicted skin trend based on the protein biomarker concentration information; determining, by the computing device, at least one skin care product associated with the at least one skin tendency; and presenting, by the computing device, a recommendation of the at least one skin care product via a display; A method wherein the immunoassay analysis device is configured to determine protein concentration by measuring fluorescence.

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , The method, wherein determining the at least one skin care product comprises providing the at least one predicted skin tendency and information related to the subject to a recommendation engine.

3. 3. The method of claim 2, The method, wherein the recommendation engine generates the recommendations using at least one of a collaborative filter, a content-based filter, and a hybrid filter.

4. 3. The method of claim 2, receiving feedback about the at least one skin care product; and The method further comprising updating the recommendation engine with the feedback.

5. 2. The method of claim 1 , The method, wherein the protein biomarker concentration information comprises information about the concentration of at least one of the following biomarkers: FLG2 biomarker, TG3 biomarker, IDE biomarker, LCN1 biomarker, and YKL40 biomarker.

6. 2. The method of claim 1 , The method, wherein the at least one predicted skin tendency comprises the occurrence of at least one of oily skin, rough skin, uneven skin tone, eye wrinkles, photoaging, loss of elasticity, and enlarged pores.

7. A computing device configured to provide skin care product recommendations to said subject by performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

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