Vitamin D-Promoting Sunscreen With Selective UVB Wavelength Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional sunscreens block a broad spectrum of UV radiation, including the wavelengths necessary for vitamin D synthesis, preventing the body from producing sufficient levels of this essential nutrient.
Innovation Solution
A sunscreen formulation that allows passage of UVB radiation in the 295 to 315 nm range, enabling vitamin D production while blocking harmful wavelengths, using specific UV filters that minimize absorption in this range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional sunscreens use broad spectrum UV filters to block harmful radiation, then skin protection from cancer and wrinkles is improved, but vitamin D synthesis is prevented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the UV spectrum into different wavelength ranges and applies different filtering strategies to each segment. UVB radiation in the 280-320 nm range is partially blocked to prevent skin damage while allowing sufficient passage in the 295-315 nm range for vitamin D synthesis. UVA radiation in the 320-400 nm range is more extensively blocked. This wavelength-specific segmentation resolves the contradiction by protecting against harmful UV while permitting beneficial vitamin D-producing wavelengths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by using multiple UV filter ingredients with different absorption characteristics tailored to specific wavelength ranges. Each filter ingredient is selected for its particular spectral profile, creating localized protection in harmful wavelength regions while maintaining transparency in the vitamin D synthesis range. This allows the sunscreen to have different protective qualities at different points of the UV spectrum.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sunscreen formulations use higher concentrations of UV filters to increase protection, then skin protection is improved, but the formulation becomes stickier and oilier
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials by combining multiple UV filter ingredients in specific proportions rather than using a single high-concentration filter. This composite approach achieves the required SPF protection level while distributing the physical properties across different ingredients, thereby reducing the stickiness and oily feel associated with high concentrations of individual UV filters. The composite formulation maintains protection efficacy while improving application comfort.
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
The formulation enables safe and effective vitamin D synthesis while protecting the skin from damage, offering a balance between sun protection and nutrient production.
Implementation Method 1
Each different active ingredient used in sunscreens has a unique profile in regard to which wavelengths of ultraviolet (UV) radiation it can absorb and what percentage of those wavelengths it can absorb
Implementation Method 2
Vitamin D is made in the body when a derivative of cholesterol called 7-dehydrocholesterol is converted to pre-vitamin D3 using the energy from radiation that has entered the skin
Data Source
AI summary
A composition suitable for providing protection against ultraviolet radiation containing one or more active ultraviolet radiation absorber through which ultraviolet B radiation is permitted to enter the skin in an amount sufficient for the body to produce a healthful and disease-opposing quantity of vitamin D3 and chemical precursors thereof. The composition is particularly used in sunscreens promoting on the one hand vitamin D3 production, on the other hand protecting the skin against harmful ultraviolet radiation.