Ding Xuefei, Hernandez-Serrano A I, Young Jacob J, Pickwell-MacPherson Emma
Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Institute of Applied and Translational Technologies in Surgery, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, UK.
Biomed Opt Express. 2024 Aug 13;15(9):5180-5198. doi: 10.1364/BOE.527731. eCollection 2024 Sep 1.
The skin, being the body's largest organ, plays a pivotal role in protecting the body against dangerous external factors. The maintenance of adequate hydration levels is essential for the skin to fulfill this protective function. However, skin hydration depends upon different biophysical factors and lifestyles, such as ethnicity, sex, age, water consumption, and many more. Consequently, methods to assess skin hydration in a precise and non-invasive manner are in high demand. In this paper, using a portable and handheld terahertz (THz) probe, we systematically examine the correlation between diverse biophysical factors and skin hydration profile in a population exceeding 300 participants. Through comparative analysis of THz light reflected from the skin against a dielectric model, we successfully extracted the thickness and hydration percentage of the outermost layer of the epidermis, the stratum corneum (SC). Our findings indicate that SC hydration and thickness are associated with variables such as daily water consumption, age, drinking coffee, and exercise. Additionally, our measurements reveal distinctions in the skin's hydration properties concerning susceptibility to UV-induced effects by bringing in the Fitzpatrick skin types. This THz-based technique holds the potential for facile integration into clinical settings for the evaluation and diagnosis of various skin-related conditions.
皮肤作为人体最大的器官，在保护身体免受危险外部因素影响方面发挥着关键作用。维持足够的水分含量对于皮肤履行这一保护功能至关重要。然而，皮肤的水合作用取决于不同的生物物理因素和生活方式，如种族、性别、年龄、饮水量等等。因此，对精确且非侵入性评估皮肤水合作用的方法有很高的需求。在本文中，我们使用便携式手持太赫兹（THz）探头，系统地研究了300多名参与者中各种生物物理因素与皮肤水合作用特征之间的相关性。通过将皮肤反射的太赫兹光与介电模型进行对比分析，我们成功提取了表皮最外层角质层（SC）的厚度和水合百分比。我们的研究结果表明，角质层的水合作用和厚度与每日饮水量、年龄、喝咖啡和运动等变量有关。此外，通过引入菲茨帕特里克皮肤类型，我们的测量揭示了皮肤水合特性在对紫外线诱导效应的易感性方面的差异。这种基于太赫兹的技术有潜力轻松整合到临床环境中，用于评估和诊断各种与皮肤相关的病症。
