TAGS: Skin Care
Kao Corporation researchers have uncovered links between regulation of capillary blood flow and the condition of the skin in the course of their dermatological research focusing on physical functions such as blood circulation.
The company has been researching the relationship between skin condition and physical functions such as the blood circulation from a dermatological perspective as the skin is part of the whole-body system.
Examine Function of Capillaries in the Skin
In 2017, Kao researchers used a microscope to examine the capillaries in the skin of 98 Japanese women in their twenties to their sixties. The goal was to examine how the skin condition correlates with the blood flow regulatory function of the capillaries or the area, length and density of the capillaries in a resting state.
The results revealed that the blood flow regulatory functions correlate with more parameters of skin conditions than the regular capillary condition.
An analysis based on differences in age further revealed that women in their twenties and thirties with higher blood flow regulatory function tended to have better skin texture pattern. On the other hand, women in their fifties and sixties with higher blood flow regulatory function have smaller cell sizes in the stratum corneum. This suggests epidermal cells were activated.
Imaging Technology to Visualize Capillaries in Skin
Kao researchers developed an imaging technology to visually extract capillaries with high precision under a microscope and to examine the relationship between capillary blood vessels and skin condition in greater detail.
The presence of melanin and hair in and on facial skin makes it difficult to measure capillaries by conventional imaging techniques. To solve this problem, images of the capillaries inside the skin can be divided into separate independent components of hemoglobin, melanin and shade.
Filter processing is then applied to the hemoglobin images to visually discriminate the capillaries based on their tubular structure. Masking is then performed using images generated from the shade component to attenuate the noise innate to hair.
With this method, Kao researchers have constructed an algorithm for precisely discriminating the capillaries in microscopic images. To confirm the precision of this process, the algorithm was compared with conventional measurement by trained experts annotating the microscopic images of the capillaries manually. In this comparison, 96.6 percent of all the extracted images were in alignment with the annotated area. Capillaries in the skin were visually extracted with high precision in a matter of seconds.
The development of a new evaluation method combining this visual discrimination algorithm and quantitative measurement of the capillaries from microscopic images of the skin will make it possible to assess the state and functions of capillaries and more fully investigate the links with facial skin.
In the future, Kao researchers plan to study changes in the condition of the blood vessels brought about by aging and the environment and to analyze the effects on various phenomena such as skin metabolism, dark spots and fine lines.
Source: Kao