Abstract
An objective system is described which enables measurement of the skin roughness of a selected small area by means of a surface tracing and a computer analyzing techniques. The system consists of five basic steps; 1) replicating the area of skin surface on a small celluloid plate, 2) tracing on the replica plate using an instrument, SURFCOM, 3) simultaneously, recording the roughness information by a cassette data recorder, 4) analyzing the analog data of roughness by a computer, 5) finally, representing the results as a “Stereograph” by a digital plotter and computing the data to obtain a “Roughness Profile”.
The Stereograph and Roughness Profile of those replica clearly demonstrated that the difference between a typically rough skin and a smooth skin can be measured adequately and quantitatively by the proposed system.
Furthermore, the system in also quite valuable in measuring the effect of skin treatment such as massaging and mask treatment.
The results confirm our observation through the micrography that a massage and a mask treatment using cosmetic preparations flatten the structure of skin surface. Moreover they give us new quantitative informations about cosmetic efficacy substantiation.
