2022 Volume 21 Pages 51-59
Bed bathing maintains cleanliness and body temperature and can be considered part of a healthy lifestyle. An increasing number of studies have provided scientific evidence of the benefits of bed baths. In this study, we measured spectral absorbance of the skin surface and the wiping material before and after wiping adopting imaging-type two-dimensional Fourier spectroscopy to investigate the usefulness of the measurement technique.
The target participants were nine men, and the samples were a steam cloth, squeezed ordinary loop-weave cotton towel, and squeezed shirring fabric towel. The method of intervention was to wipe the inside of the forearm, and the spectral absorbance of the skin surface before and after wiping as well as the spectral absorbance of the wiping material used for bed bathing were measured for 40 seconds through imaging-type two-dimensional Fourier spectroscopy. The use of near-infrared light is a new method of evaluation. The moisture contents of the wiping material and skin surface were quantitatively evaluated from the spectral absorbance.
The results show that the spectral absorbance of the wiping material increased in the order of the steam cloth, squeezed shirring fabric towel, and squeezed ordinary loop-weave cotton towel. The spectral absorbance of the skin surface increased in the order of the steam cloth, squeezed ordinary loop-weave cotton towel, and squeezed shirring fabric towel for eight of the nine participants.
It is thus possible to measure the change in water content from the spectral absorbance, and we confirmed the usefulness of the proposed measurement technique as a non-contact technique with low invasiveness.
