Skin Characterization Device Using Segmented Electrodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for characterizing skin treatment agents fail to provide detailed information on the effects of these agents on skin humidity and physical properties at various depths, limiting the understanding of their impact on the skin's moisture structure.
Innovation Solution
A method using a device with coplanar waveguides and multiple electrode sets with varying distances to generate electrical fields of differing penetration depths, allowing for the measurement of electrical permittivity at specific skin layers, thereby characterizing the effects of skin treatment agents on skin humidity and physical properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If conventional single-depth measurement methods are used, then the measurement process is simple, but detailed information on skin humidity at various depths is not obtained
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement device is segmented into multiple electrode sets, where each set is designed to measure humidity at a specific skin depth. This segmentation allows the system to obtain detailed depth-resolved humidity information without requiring a single complex measurement system, thus resolving the contradiction between information completeness and device simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from single-depth measurement to multi-depth measurement by introducing the depth dimension. Multiple electrode sets are positioned at different depths within the skin tissue, enabling the system to capture humidity variations along the depth axis, thereby transforming a 2D surface measurement into a 3D volumetric assessment.
2Measurement precision
If multiple electrode sets with varying distances are used to measure different skin layers, then detailed depth-resolved humidity information is obtained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The measurement function is segmented across multiple electrode sets, with each set responsible for measuring humidity at a specific depth range. This division of measurement responsibility allows the system to achieve high measurement precision for each layer while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
Each electrode set is designed to be multi-functional, capable of measuring both the dielectric properties and humidity characteristics of the skin layer it contacts. This universality reduces the need for separate specialized sensors for each depth, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
3Loss of information
If electrical fields with differing penetration depths are generated, then comprehensive characterization of skin treatment effects is achieved, but the measurement and analysis process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the measured parameters from multiple electrode sets are continuously analyzed and used to adjust the measurement process. This feedback loop enables the system to automatically optimize the characterization of skin treatment effects, reducing the manual analysis complexity while comprehensively capturing treatment impacts across different skin depths.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple measured parameters from different electrode sets are merged and integrated into a unified analysis framework. By combining the data from all electrode sets and synthesizing the information about dielectric properties and humidity at various depths, the system achieves comprehensive treatment effect characterization while simplifying the overall measurement and analysis process through data integration.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables detailed assessment of skin moisture at different depths, providing more comprehensive knowledge of skin hydration and the effects of skin treatment agents, improving their understanding and potential improvements or detection of incompatibilities.
Implementation Method 1
By means of the electrodes, at least N electrical fields are generated within the skin region, wherein these fields have differing penetration depths into the skin region
Implementation Method 2
N 'measured parameters' m i are determined, wherein each measured parameter m i depends on an effective permittivity as seen by a different one of the N electrical fields
Data Source
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AI summary
In a method for characterizing skin treatment agent, a device having several sets (5) of electrodes is applied to the skin. The electrode sets have differing electrode distances (W), such that fields having different reach can be generated. Inverse profiling is used to calculate the dielectric permittivities of individual skin layers, which in turn allows to observe the water transport mechanism in the skin. These transport mechanisms can be used to assess the effect of the agent on the skin. An advantageous device for implementing this method comprises coplanar waveguides for generating the fields.