SiaScope

To improve beauty and skin care products, P&G Beauty researchers have adapted existing technologies to identify problem areas in product formulations. Until recently, researchers lacked a non-invasive method to identify trouble spots and measure clinical endpoints to isolate and track specific parts of the skin affected by topical treatments. Chromophores, light-absorbing molecules below the skins surface, are responsible for the coloration and appearance of skin.  The three types of chromophores, melanin, collagen and haemoglobin, are crucial in determining perceived age.  P&G Beauty scientists collaborated with UK-based Astron Clinica to develop a new technique to quantify the contribution of individual chromophores on skin appearance. Full-face Non-contact "Chromophore Mapping" SIAscopy ("NCS") generates melanin and haemoglobin parametric concentration maps.  These maps present clinicians with a potentially powerful new tool to augment their own subjective evaluation of challenging facial lesions. By adapting the technology of SIAscopy (Spectrophoto-metric Intracutaneous Analysis), a tool originally used to measure the concentration and distribution of the skin's melanin, collagen and haemoglobin in order to detect cancerous melanoma, researchers are now able to increase the formulation efficacy of products such as UV protectants.

 
Refinements to the SIAscope imaging system are allowing researchers to capture images of a full face instead of just a small area. This view will assist in mapping chromophore changes as a whole. The above image shows pigmentation improvements after 6 weeks of using a N-AG/niacinamide formulation.

The SIAscopy technology is patented by its developer, UK based Astron Clinica. Astron Clinica developed this technology in collaboration with experts in the fields of dermatology, plastic surgery and cosmetics to ensure the technology was founded on sound scientific data and clinical trials.  To learn more, please visit http://www.astronclinica.com/.

To learn more about the development of the SIAscope, please read Dr. Paul Matt's technical poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Meeting in 2005.

 
Originally developed as a non-invasive tool to help detect skin cancers, the SIAscope has been repurposed to give scientists images of chromophore concentration in skin. Photo courtesy: Paul Matts.