Abstract
This article focuses on the extraction of information from human skin and scalp hair for evaluation of a subject’s condition in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. It uses capacitive images from existing hand-held research equipment and it applies image processing algorithms to expand their possible applications. The literature review introduces the readers into the field of skin research, and it highlights pieces of information that can be extracted by in vivo skin and ex vivo hair measurements. Then, the selected scientific equipment is presented, and Maxwell-based electrostatic simulations are employed to evaluate the measurement apparatus. Image analysis algorithms are suggested for (a) the detection of polygons on the human skin texture, (b) the estimation of wrinkles length and (c) the observation of hair water sorption capabilities by capacitive imaging systems. Finally, experiments are conducted to evaluate the performance of the presented algorithms and the results are compared with the literature. The results indicate that capacitive imaging systems can be used for skin age classification, detection and tracking of skin artifacts (e.g., wrinkles, moles or scars) and calculation of water content in hair samples.
Highlights
The electrical properties of skin and hair alongside their texture and anatomy provide information about a person’s health, efficiency of drug delivery and effects from application of cosmetic products.For these reasons, scientists from a variety of fields use non-invasive instruments to extract such information and achieve experimental results that strengthen their research
The results indicate that capacitive imaging systems can be used for skin age classification, detection and tracking of skin artifacts and calculation of water content in hair samples
We achieved to summarize the importance of skin and hair analysis in a variety of scientific fields, we introduced and analyzed the apparatus of capacitive imaging systems using a Maxwell-based simulation, we suggested algorithms for information extraction using such equipment and we conducted experiments to evaluate the overall system performance
Summary
The electrical properties of skin and hair alongside their texture and anatomy provide information about a person’s health, efficiency of drug delivery and effects from application of cosmetic products. For these reasons, scientists from a variety of fields use non-invasive instruments to extract such information and achieve experimental results that strengthen their research. Scientists from a variety of fields use non-invasive instruments to extract such information and achieve experimental results that strengthen their research As part of this introduction, selected publications are illustrating the above points right after a summary of human skin structure and hair anatomy. The outermost sublayer, target of non-invasive instruments, is called stratum coreum and consists mainly of dead keratinocytes
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