JP2656650B2 - Evaluation device for skin characteristics - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a skin property for numerically and automatically electrically evaluating skin properties, in particular, the flexibility or elasticity of human skin (skin). The evaluation device.

[Conventional technology]

Dermatologists, especially dermatologists and skin cosmetologists, usually evaluate human skin (skin) exclusively by directly touching the skin or directly picking the skin to evaluate its elasticity. However, such an evaluation delicately depends not only on the skin condition at that time but also on many other factors related to the skin, and it is difficult to reliably grasp the reproducible skin condition. These factors include age, gender,
Race, location of examination, specific physiological or pathological conditions,
There are treatments with medicines and cosmetics. In addition, it depends on the physical and mental condition of the person to be examined and the habit of the person. For example, the same inspector may have slightly different evaluation states in the morning and evening. Furthermore, if the person to be evaluated is replaced by another person, the elasticity of the same skin may be evaluated differently.

Such a situation is easy to understand by taking body temperature as an example. When estimating the body temperature without a thermometer, the temperature of the same person is likely to be different for each person to be measured, and even if the person to be measured is the same, the estimation result greatly differs depending on the mental and physical condition of the person Things are easy to imagine.

In general, it is advantageous to evaluate skin from various viewpoints, and to examine, for example, skin color, light reflectance, gloss, and the like. However, in order to perform reproducible evaluation, it is most important to evaluate the elasticity of the skin, that is, a dynamic numerical evaluation, and it seems to be versatile.

Based on this idea, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-164434 discloses that a light-emitting source is provided in a suction space having an opening that is in close contact with a desired portion of the skin, and light from the light-emitting source is focused on the skin surface via a half mirror. Provide a focusing lens to cause, the light reflected from the skin surface is introduced into the light receiving element using the same focusing lens,
At this time, a detection system in which a stop (pinhole) for restricting blurring of a light source image due to reflected light is provided on the light receiving element is used. However, this method requires a troublesome operation of forming an image of the light source on the skin surface by the focusing lens each time at the first time before performing suction. In addition, since the reflectivity also strongly depends on the gloss or roughness of the skin, the amount of received light is strongly affected by the reflectivity of the skin itself, which differs for each individual, in addition to the displacement of the skin due to the reduced pressure.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-134131 discloses a probe capable of accurately measuring the displacement of a minute area of skin due to suction by making the opening of the suction space very narrow. For this reason, a pair of light-emitting elements and a light-receiving element are provided at positions in the probe opposed to each other with the suction space interposed therebetween, and light emitted from the light-emitting elements is guided to the surface of the skin. A kind of cylindrical prism that can utilize reflection). The reason is that since the opening of the suction space is extremely narrow, the displacement of the skin at the time of suction is small and the rise of the skin is small, so that it is necessary to make the light path as close to the surface as possible to detect this displacement. .
In such an arrangement, the use of light from the light emitting element is extremely disadvantageous. Because the light-emitting element's inner light opening (center axis side)
This is because only the light is used. In order to avoid such disadvantages, a piston element movable in the axial direction is inserted into the opening. Additional elements (prisms and piston elements) must be used, as described above, to study the elastic properties of the microregions of skin. But,
Skin elasticity is not due to the very upper layers of the skin. That is, it is not determined only by the biological characteristics of the keratinous part. It should be measured over a reasonably wide skin area, as it also depends on the underlying biological tissue.

[Problem of the Invention]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the ambiguity that occurs in the evaluation of the above-mentioned skin characteristics, that is, the flexibility and elasticity of the skin, and to eliminate general differences in skin characteristics that do not cause individual differences between measurers and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized and inexpensive skin property evaluation device which is provided with a numerical display and is easy to operate.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the present invention, there is provided a device for placing a skin under a reduced pressure in a suction space within a predetermined range, detecting a displacement of the skin at that location and a reduced pressure at that time, and electrically processing the result. (A) a probe having a suction space therein for bringing an opening into close contact with a predetermined part of the skin and sucking the vacuum; (b) a vacuum disposed in the main body and communicating with the suction space via a flexible cable An exhaust system including a pump, a solenoid valve, and a pipe; (c) disposed close to the opening on the outer periphery of the probe so as to oppose the suction space to measure the amount of displacement of the skin due to suction; A photoelectric detection system including a pair of the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element, (d) an electric processing unit that calculates, processes and outputs a characteristic value indicating the elasticity of the skin from the detection signal of the light-receiving element and its time change, And (e) the exhaust Sequence control unit installed in the main body for controlling the system and the photoelectric detection system, has been solved by the apparatus for evaluating skin properties with a.

Other advantageous configurations according to the invention are disclosed in claims 2 and 3.

(Operation)

According to the above configuration, the elasticity of the skin is measured over time. The skin surface is sucked into the suction space, and the skin suction distance is measured from the position where the light path between the light emitting element and the light receiving element is blocked, and the suction pressure at that time is measured from the pressure sensor. In the time series measurement, the displacement and pressure of the skin at that time are processed and displayed as digital values.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings showing embodiments.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the entire configuration of a device for numerically evaluating the softness of the skin according to the present invention. This device comprises an evaluation device main body 1 and a probe 2 which is brought into close contact with the skin, which is a measuring point, and examines the softness of the skin in that area.
And a cable 8 for electrically and vacuum connecting the main body 1 and the probe 2. The probe 2 can be detachably connected to the main body 1 via a connection joint 9 attached to the end of the cable 8. The main body 1 includes an operation unit 3 used to roughly specify a measurement operation, a display unit 6 for displaying measurement data, and a printing unit 7 for printing and storing these measurement data. The operation section 3 is provided with a main switch 4 for power supply of the apparatus and operation keys 5a to 5d for selecting an operation mode.

2a-c show details of the probe 2. The probe 2 can be roughly divided into two parts, and is preferably formed of a plastic probe receiving cap 50 like the plastic probe head 10. The probe head 10 has a suction space 18 that opens toward the tip of the head about a central axis. This suction space
Numeral 18 causes the skin, which is in close contact with the tip of the probe head 10, to be sucked inside.

Further, a central cable 16 is opened at the bottom of the suction space 18 along the center of the joint projection 26. As shown in FIG. 2b, an exhaust pipe 58 of the cable 8 introduced from one end of the probe receiving cap 50 is inserted and connected to the joint projection 26. The probe cap 10 further includes a storage space 12 for the light emitting element 22 opposed to the suction space 18.
And a storage space 14 for the light receiving element 24. The light emitting element 22 emits light by an excitation current introduced through the electric conducting wire 28, and can be constituted by, for example, a light emitting diode. The light emitted by the light emitting element 22 is emitted toward the suction space 18 from an optical path 42 made of a light-transmitting material (for example, a transparent synthetic resin), and is made of a similarly light-transmitting material at a facing position. The light enters the light receiving element 24 formed by, for example, a phototransistor via the light path 44 (see FIGS. 2A and 2B). The light transmitted according to the degree of curvature of the skin sucked into the suction space 18 is partially shielded.

In this way, the received light is converted into an electric signal corresponding to the light amount, and supplied to the evaluation device of the main body 1 (not shown) via the conducting wire 30. The conductors 28 and 30 of the light emitting element 22 and the light receiving element 24 are connected to the electric conductor 34 passing between the jacket 56 of the cable 8 and the vacuum pipe 58, although not shown in detail in FIG.
Are linked.

There is one more opening 20 at the bottom corner of the suction space 18.
The suction space 18 communicates with the pressure-sensitive surface of the pressure sensor 38 disposed on the back surface of the probe head 10 from the opening 20 via the pressure measurement passage 36 (see FIG. 2c). This pressure sensor 38
Can be assumed in various forms. For example, it is constituted by a strain gauge or the like in which the deformation (strain) of the diaphragm surface is bridge-connected, and this pressure is electrically measured from the deformation of the diaphragm according to the pressure. The drive current 40 supplied to the pressure sensor 38 and the conductor 40 for measuring the detection potential are connected to the electric conductor 34 passing between the jacket 56 of the cable 8 and the vacuum pipe 58 in the same manner as the conductor of the light emitting and receiving elements. I have.

Since the range of the skin to be measured is selected to be approximately 10 to 20 mmφ, the opening of the suction space is selected to be approximately that cross section. When performing an inspection measurement, the surface of the skin is brought into close contact with the tip of the probe head 10. Accordingly, the suction space 18 is completely sealed by the closely attached skin, and the surface of the skin is drawn into the suction space 18 by the air sucked from the central cable 16. Implicitly shown in FIG. 2b, the maximum position retracted by suction is indicated by reference numeral 52, and the position where the equilibrium state is maintained when the suction is interrupted is indicated by reference numeral 54. These states are described further below.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an electric system of the evaluation apparatus for skin characteristics according to the present invention. Although the power supply to be supplied to the main body 1 is illustrated as an AC power supply, the power supply may be a DC power supply such as a battery. On the other hand, the input AC power supply is introduced into the rotary vacuum pump VP via the relay RE1. On the other hand, the input power is introduced into the DC power generation unit 60, and is converted into a DC power of, for example, DC 12V. This direct current is introduced as a drive power supply to each circuit (sequence control unit 68, operation keyboard 62, central processing unit 64, initial electric processing unit 66, display unit 6, printing unit 7). Further, this DC current is introduced as a drive DC power supply to the light emitting / receiving light detecting system and the pressure sensor of the probe 2 provided for measuring the degree of deformation of the skin.

Vacuum pump VP is a solenoid valve V and a cable indicated by a chain line
The air is exhausted from the suction space 18 via 58.

The lighting current supplied to the light emitting element 22 is supplied from the DC power generation unit 60 by a relay RE2 driven according to a predetermined sequence, as described later.

The signals detected by the light emitting element 24 and the pressure sensor 38 are firstly sampled at predetermined time intervals by the initial electric processing unit 66, each sampled analog signal is held, and a digital signal is obtained by an A / D converter (not shown). Convert to a signal. The converted signal is supplied to the central processing unit 64. This arithmetic unit 64 is a storage device for temporarily storing the supplied signal,
For example, a RAM, a microprocessor that processes digital signals in a predetermined order and a calculation method, and an operation keyboard
It is composed of an EP-ROM storing a processing procedure specified by a digital input signal from 62, and bus lines connecting these circuit units. The various results calculated by the operation unit 64 are converted into digital signals, supplied to the display unit 6 which is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and numerically displayed.
Similarly, if necessary, these results are printed out as numbers in the printing unit 7 which is a printer, for example.

Next, a procedure for using the skin property evaluation device according to the present invention will be described.

First, an external power supply is connected to the device, and the main power switch 4 of the device in the operation unit 3 is turned on. Then
The probe 2 is applied to the skin site to be examined. By pressing the mode selection keys 5a to 5c of the operation unit 3, a measurement mode to be inspected is designated. Upon pressing the mode selection key, the evaluation device starts operating in that mode. This measurement mode 5a ~
5c has the following modes: 5a: Measurement of skin stretch and time and display of the result 5b: Measurement of skin stretch and suction pressure and display of the result 5c: Measurement and result of skin stretch and time 5d: There is a printer printout of the measurement and the result of the elongation and suction pressure of the skin.

Further, an operation sequence of the apparatus for evaluating skin characteristics according to the present invention will be described.

When the main power switch 4 is turned on, the DC power supply unit 60 in the main body 1 generates a predetermined DC voltage, and the circuit units 6, 7, 62, 64,
A power of a predetermined DC voltage is supplied to the light receiving elements 66 and 68 and the light receiving element 24 and the pressure sensor 38. The probe 2 is applied to the portion of the skin to be examined, and one of the selection keys 5a to 5d in the operation unit 3 is pressed to start the selected measurement mode. Control unit
Supplied to 68. The sequence control unit 68 receives this signal, first supplies an open command signal to the relay RE1, and
Start P. At this time, the solenoid valve V is still closed. As the rotation of the vacuum pump VP increases, the degree of vacuum in the pump increases. When the specified time has elapsed, the minimum pressure of the vacuum pump VP is reached. After a certain period of time corresponding to the elapsed time, the solenoid valve V opens under the control of the sequence control unit 68. At this time, the relay RE2 is also turned on to the power supply line to the light emitting element 22 under the control of the sequence control unit 68, and power supply is started.

By this processing, the suction space 18 is exhausted, and the surface of the skin is sucked inward. The maximum suction state is the state of the skin surface indicated by the reference numeral 52 schematically shown in FIG. 2b. Next, after a predetermined time, usually 0.2 to 0.3 sec, the solenoid valve V is closed, and then the vacuum pump VP is stopped via the relay RE1. In this state, the surface of the skin reaches an equilibrium position corresponding to reference numeral 54 in FIG. During the above process, the light receiving element 24 and the pressure sensor 38 capture the respective state changes, and their state quantities are calculated from the detected values by the initial electric processing unit 66 and the central processing unit 64, one by one.

FIG. 4 shows the time course of the displacement of the skin surface obtained by the evaluation apparatus for skin characteristics according to the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a pressure change in the suction space 18 with respect to the displacement of the skin. 4th
The curve α in the figure shows a state where the equilibrium state is reached from the start of suction. Further, a curve β shows a state after the exhaust has been interrupted after reaching the equilibrium state. The curve γ in FIG. 5 shows the state from the start of suction until the equilibrium state is reached, and the curve δ shows the state after the evacuation is interrupted after the equilibrium state is reached.

The elasticity of the skin can be characterized by the unique values of these curves α, β, γ and δ. That is, the maximum displacement value H1 _,
The residual displacement value H2 _, the gradient of the bent γ and δ (or the curves α and β
And the area surrounded by the curves γ and δ is a measure of the elasticity of the skin. That is, it can be determined from Fig. 4, (1) the maximum displacement value H ₁ is proportional to the elongation of the skin.

(2) If the initial gradient of the curve β (or the gradient of the curve δ) is large, the dermis has a large resilience.

(3) If the bump K of the curve β is large, it indicates that the rebound is large and the moisture content of the skin is large.

(4) as residual low displacement value H ₂ good return of the skin, it is flexible.

It is.

 Further, what can be determined from FIG. 5 is that (1) the energy received by the skin is obtained from the curve γ.

(2) The energy released by the skin is obtained from the curve δ.

(3) From (1) and (2), the energy that the skin could not return (so-called hysteresis energy) is obtained.

(4) The slope of the curve γ directly indicates, in particular, the elasticity of the skin.
The gentler the gradient, the more elastic.

These quantities are displayed as digital values on the printer and / or digitally on the display as characteristic digital values.

The various functional configurations of the skin characteristic evaluation device according to the present invention described above are exemplarily shown for ease of explanation, and various modifications can be assumed for them. However, any modifications that fall within the scope of the configuration described in the claims defining the present invention belong to the scope of the present invention.

〔The invention's effect〕

The evaluation values obtained by the evaluation apparatus for skin characteristics according to the present invention are displayed as reproducible values irrespective of the difference between the persons to be evaluated and the state of mind and body of the person to be evaluated. In addition, when observing and diagnosing the condition of the skin in a time series, it was possible to provide an extremely common and universal judgment, and to provide an epoch-making diagnosing method which has never been performed so far.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1, a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a skin property evaluation device according to the present invention, FIGS. 2a to 2c, a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a probe used in the skin property evaluation device according to the present invention, FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an electric system and an exhaust system of the skin characteristic evaluation apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a graph showing evaluation values (displacement of the skin surface with respect to time) obtained by the skin characteristic evaluation apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a graph showing evaluation values (relationship of suction pressure with respect to displacement) obtained by a skin characteristic evaluation device according to the present invention. Reference numerals in the drawing: 1 ... Main body of evaluation device 2 ... Probe 3 ... Operation unit 6 ... Display unit 7 ... Printing unit 8 ... Cable 18 ... Suction space 12 ... Light emitting element 14 ... Light receiving element 38 Pressure sensor 60 DC power supply 62 Operation keyboard 64 Central processing unit 66 Initial electrical processing unit 68 Sequence control unit V Solenoid valve VP Vacuum pump

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An apparatus for evaluating skin characteristics, comprising: placing a predetermined range of skin under reduced pressure; measuring the displacement of the skin in that range and the reduced pressure at that time; electrically processing the measurement result and numerically displaying the result; a) a probe having a suction space therein for bringing an opening into close contact with a predetermined portion of the skin and sucking the skin; (b) a vacuum pump disposed in the main body and communicating with the suction space via a flexible cable; (C) an exhaust system comprising a solenoid valve and a pipe; (c) disposed in close proximity to the opening on the outer periphery of the probe so as to face the suction space to measure the amount of displacement of the skin due to suction; A photoelectric detection system including a pair of light-emitting elements and a light-receiving element; (d) an electric processing unit that performs arithmetic processing on a characteristic value indicating the elasticity of the skin from the detection signal of the light-receiving element and its time change, and outputs and displays; (E) The above exhaust Evaluation apparatus of skin properties, characterized in that it comprises a sequence control unit, installed in the main body for controlling the photoelectric detection system and. 2. A pressure sensor for electrically measuring a pressure change in the suction space is provided in an exhaust system, and the elasticity of the skin can be numerically calculated from the pressure value and its time change. The skin property evaluation device according to claim 1. 3. Measurement modes to be executed are as follows: (1) A change curve of skin displacement over time under a predetermined reduced pressure (α)
Is measured, and the maximum displacement value (H ₁ ) is measured to estimate the elongation of the skin. (2) After reaching equilibrium in the measurement mode (1), a time-dependent change curve (β) at which the displacement recovers is determined. Slope, curve (β)
Measure the size of the hump (K) and the residual displacement value (H ₂ ) to estimate the resilience of the skin, the water content of the skin, and the flexibility of the skin, respectively. (3) Equilibrium from the start of suction Estimating the energy received by the skin by obtaining a curve (γ) indicating the relationship between the amount of displacement and the amount of pressure up to the displacement amount, and estimating the elasticity of the skin from the gradient of the curve (γ). Thereafter, a curve (δ) showing the relationship between the amount of displacement and the amount of pressure when the evacuation is interrupted is determined, and the energy released from the skin is estimated. The evaluation apparatus for skin characteristics according to claim 2, wherein