Artificial Skin With Pore-Based Liquid Injection For Sweat Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current artificial body tissue substitutes, such as artificial skin and mucosa, are inadequate for testing cosmetic and pharmacological products that interact with sweat, sebum, or saliva, as they fail to accurately mimic the production and physico-chemical properties of these bodily fluids, leading to imprecise testing methods like animal testing.
Innovation Solution
A body tissue substitute with a substrate, a cell layer, and at least one pore connected to a liquid injection system, allowing controlled flow of sweat, sebum, or saliva, and equipped with means to measure physico-chemical states and flow rates, enabling more realistic mimicry of human tissue behavior.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional body tissue substitutes are used, then animal testing can be reduced, but the ability to test products interacting with sweat, sebum, or saliva is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The invention incorporates pores within the cell layer that allow sweat, sebum, or saliva to pass through and reach the substrate. This porous structure enables the artificial tissue to realistically mimic human skin's interaction with these bodily fluids, allowing for accurate testing of cosmetic and pharmaceutical products while avoiding animal testing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a liquid injection system as an intermediary to deliver sweat, sebum, or saliva through the pores to the substrate. This mediator enables controlled delivery of bodily fluids to test product interactions without requiring actual human or animal subjects, thus resolving the contradiction between ethical testing and testing capability.
2Measurement precision
If gravimetry on human guinea pigs is used, then sweat production can be measured, but precision and ability to detect physico-chemical aspects are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the mechanical gravimetry method with a microfluidic-based system that can precisely measure flow rates and physico-chemical properties of sweat, sebum, or saliva. This substitution enables detection of subtle differences in product effectiveness (e.g., between different aluminum chloride concentrations) while providing comprehensive physico-chemical analysis beyond what simple weight measurement can achieve.
Solution Approach 2:
The testing system is designed to be multi-functional, capable of measuring not only flow rate but also various physico-chemical aspects of bodily fluids. This universal measurement capability allows the system to detect plug formation mechanisms and other complex interactions that single-function gravimetry cannot capture, thereby improving measurement precision without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex structures like sebaceous glands are cultured, then sebum production can be mimicked, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of sebum production from the complex sebaceous gland structure and implements it through a simplified system where sebum is delivered through pores in the cell layer. This extraction approach maintains the ability to test sebum-interacting products while avoiding the manufacturing complexity and high costs associated with culturing actual sebaceous glands.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies local quality by creating pores specifically in regions where sebum, sweat, or saliva needs to interact with the substrate, rather than attempting to replicate entire glandular structures throughout the tissue. This localized approach enables targeted testing capability while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a substitute for body tissue selected from artificial skin and artificial mucosa, comprising a substrate having an external surface, a cell layer having a monolayer of skin or mucosa cells, and at least one pore, the cell layer covering at least a part of the external surface, wherein the substrate comprises a conduit for connecting the pore to a liquid injection system.