'Grandma-inspired cosmetic chip' detects skin problems

Researchers at a Taiwanese university have developed a "cosmetic chip" that can detect skin problems and check the effectiveness of skin care products. Team leader Huang Sheng-chieh likened the device to a doctor taking a pulse, even as they are now working to expand the device's therapeutic effects. "It is like taking the pulse in Chinese medicine, just that instead of having one's pulse taken by doctors who depend on their experience, it will be done through a standardized chip," Huang said in an interview posted on Taiwan's Central News Agency. Measurements by the chip will allow users to gauge the effects of their skin care products and see if certain products are suitable for them, he said. So far, he said that 20,000 people have used the device —which took him and researchers from the biomedical system-on-chip research laboratory under the university's electrical engineering department six years to develop— to test their skin conditions. The device uses light-based photoplethysmography (PPG) technology and an infrared light to determine skin conditions. Huang said his team is now working on therapeutic functions of the chip to include light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that can emit red, blue and other lights. Such lights had been found to have a therapeutic effect on the skin, according to the professor from National Chiao Tung University said. "Hopefully in the future people will be able to maintain their skin while talking on the phone," he said. Inspiration from grandmother According to Huang, the inspiration for the device came from his 86-year-old grandmother, who he said managed to keep her skin in good condition. This helped him realize the importance of skin care, regardless of age, he said. Light therapy over laser Huang said his team chose light therapy over other types of skin treatment such as laser, intense pulsed light and mesotherapy, because light therapy is non-invasive, painless and easily accessible. The device measures the amount of light reflected from small blood vessels in the skin to a light sensor. A sensor pressed against the skin records the amplitude of the reflected light wave, which is then transmitted to a computer database for analysis. Huang said smaller variations in the amplitude of the light wave mean better and healthier skin, as nutrients are spread more evenly across the small blood vessels under the skin. Present goals Huang said he and his team are trying to make the chip device smaller, to fit into portable devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players. Also, he said their ultimate goal is to make the chip available to everyone at low cost. The team, which includes doctors specializing in Chinese medicine, is also expanding its database so the device can inform users about Chinese medical views about the body and its circulatory system. — TJD, GMA News