Skin Patching Device for Collagenic Organ Quality Estimation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current methods for determining the quality of collagenic organs are either invasive, operator-dependent, or have high error rates, making them unreliable for estimating the actual biological age of patients, which is crucial for personalized healthcare.

Innovation Solution

A non-invasive method using a skin patching device to acquire images of the skin surface, process them into geometrical shapes, extract features, and calculate a characteristic length that represents the quality of collagenic organs, which can be automatically analyzed without operator intervention, reducing error rates and improving reliability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If blood senescence biomarkers are used to determine actual biological age, then reliability of estimation is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to invasive protocol and dedicated equipment requirements

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of estimationVSAvoidease of operation

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses cutaneous replicas as copies of the actual skin surface, allowing indirect measurement of collagenic organ quality without invasive blood collection. The replica captures the microrelief topography which correlates with underlying collagen structure, enabling reliable estimation through a non-invasive proxy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical/invasive blood collection system with an optical imaging system that captures surface topography. The acquisition device uses optical fields rather than physical penetration to obtain biomarker information, eliminating the need for needles and laboratory equipment

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Ease of operation

If visual inspection method is used to analyze cutaneous replica, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to operator dependency

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of operationVSAvoidmeasurement precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces human visual inspection with automated image processing algorithms. The processing system objectively analyzes the acquired images to extract topographical features and calculate characteristic lengths, eliminating operator subjectivity and variability while maintaining ease of use

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs self-analysis through automated processing of the acquired images. The algorithm independently extracts features and determines biomarker values without requiring operator intervention, ensuring consistent and reproducible measurements across different users

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Ease of operation

If optical sensor is used to determine roughness index, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates due to insufficient correlation with collagenic organ quality

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of operationVSAvoidmeasurement precision

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent goes beyond simple roughness index measurement by extracting multiple topographical features including characteristic lengths at different scales. This partial measurement approach (measuring specific geometric parameters rather than overall roughness) provides better correlation with collagenic organ quality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the measured parameter from general roughness index to specific characteristic lengths (L1, L2, L3) that represent different scales of skin topography. This parameter transformation improves the correlation between surface features and underlying collagen structure quality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

4Measurement precision

If automated image processing is implemented, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemeasurement precisionVSAvoiddevice complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the image processing into distinct functional modules: acquisition of cutaneous replica, processing to extract topographical features, and determination of characteristic lengths. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system manageability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS20240354955A1Method for determining a characteristic length of skin surface representative of a quality of collagenic internal organs of a patient

Publication Date: 2024.10.24 ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE HOPITAUX DE PARIS (APHP)

AI summary

A non-invasive method for determining a characteristic length representative of a quality of collagenic organs of a patient, includes acquisition of at least one image of a cutaneous replica of a portion of the skin surface of the patient, the cutaneous replica being obtained from a skin patching device applied on the portion of the skin surface; processing of the acquired image in order to obtain a processed image, said processed image being formed by a plurality of geometrical shapes; extraction of a plurality of features from the plurality of geometrical shapes; determination of the characteristic length representative of the quality of the collagenic organs of the patient based on the extracted features.