Department of Research and Development, Prestige and SCPC, P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, Hyogo, Japan.
Skin Res Technol. 2013 Feb;19(1):e525-31. doi: 10.1111/srt.12005. Epub 2012 Sep 14.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Lack of firmness is a key sign of skin aging, but there are no methods for quantifying the firmness of facial skin as perceived visually. The objective of this study was to develop a convenient and accurate method for this purpose.
A compact imaging system (Magic Ring) was developed to capture images of facial skin. By using an image-analysis algorithm, the number of facial lines and their direction were analyzed to give an index termed the 'Ageless Vector'. Correlations between the Ageless Vector and visually perceived facial skin firmness, mechanical skin firmness (R5), and actual age were examined for 108 Asian females. The technique was also used to assess the effects of a 14-day skin-moisturization regimen in 47 Asian female volunteers.
The Ageless Vector showed highly significant correlation with visually perceived skin firmness (r = 0.816) and significant correlation with mechanical skin firmness (R5) (r = -0.775). Skin moisturization significantly improved both the Ageless Vector (P < 0.05) and the visual grading of apparent skin firmness.
We confirmed by two clinical studies that the imaging methodology using the Ageless Vector and the Magic Ring facial-imaging system was sufficiently sensitive to permit the measurement of apparent visible skin firmness and that it is an excellent method suitable for practical in vivo applications.
背景/目的：缺乏紧致度是皮肤老化的一个关键特征，但目前还没有方法可以定量评估面部皮肤的紧致度。本研究旨在为此开发一种方便且准确的方法。
开发了一种紧凑型成像系统（Magic Ring）来捕捉面部皮肤图像。通过使用图像分析算法，可以分析面部线条的数量和方向，得出一个称为“不老向量”的指标。我们对 108 名亚洲女性的不老向量与视觉感知的面部皮肤紧致度、机械皮肤紧致度（R5）和实际年龄之间的相关性进行了研究。该技术还用于评估 47 名亚洲女性志愿者为期 14 天的皮肤保湿方案的效果。
不老向量与视觉感知的皮肤紧致度高度相关（r = 0.816），与机械皮肤紧致度（R5）显著相关（r = -0.775）。皮肤保湿显著改善了不老向量（P < 0.05）和视觉评估的皮肤紧致度。
我们通过两项临床研究证实，使用不老向量和 Magic Ring 面部成像系统的成像方法足以测量明显的可见皮肤紧致度，并且是一种非常适合实际体内应用的优秀方法。
