Researchers from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) have developed a “cosmetic chip” device that can detect skin problems and gauge the effects of skincare products.
The device, which utilizes light-based photoplethysmograph (PPG) technology, helps determine skin conditions through the use of an infrared light, said Huang Sheng-chieh (黃聖傑), head of the research team.
It measures the amount of light that is reflected from small blood vessels in the skin to a light sensor, he said. The sensor is pressed against the user’s skin, records the amplitude of the reflected light wave and transmits it to a computer database for analysis.
The smaller the variations in the amplitude of the light wave, the healthier the skin because it means that nutrients are spread more evenly across the small blood vessels under the skin, Huang said.
By measuring the changes to their skin, people will be able to gauge the effects skincare products are having and whether a certain product is suitable for them, Huang said.
Huang and researchers from the school’s biomedical system-on-a-chip research laboratory worked with a dermatologist for the past six years to develop the device. He said more than 20,000 people have already used the device to test their skin conditions.
He said on Saturday that the inspiration for the invention came from his 87-year-old grandmother, who paid a lot of attention to keeping her skin look good. He said his grandmother helped him realize the importance of skin care, regardless of age.
It also motivated him to think about how integrated circuit (IC) technology can be used to develop devices that are “closely related to people’s everyday lives” and can could lead to a new path for Taiwan’s IC industry, he said.
The current goal of the team is to make the chip device smaller and more refined so that it can fit into mobile phones and MP3 players, he said. The ultimate goal is to make the chip available to everyone at a low cost, he said.
Huang said that his team, made up of traditional medicine physicians, is also expanding its database so that traditional medicine views about the body and its circulatory system could be provided to patients through the device.
“It is like taking the pulse in Chinese medicine, just that instead of having one’s pulse taken by doctors, it will be done through a standardized chip,” Huang said.
The team is also working to improve the therapeutic functions of the chip. He said the device is equipped with LEDs that can emit red, blue and other lights that have been found to have a therapeutic effect on the skin.
“Hopefully in the future, people will be able to maintain their skin while talking on the phone,” he said.
Huang said his team has chosen light therapy over other forms of skin treatment such as laser, intense pulsed light and mesotherapy, because it is non-invasive, painless and easily accessible.
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