title: Non-invasive measurements of skin pigmentation in situ.
abstract: Objective in situ measurements of skin pigmentation are needed for accurate documentation of pigmentation disorders, in studies of constitutive and induced skin pigmentation, for testing of the efficacy of pro-pigmentation or de-pigmentation agents, etc. Non-invasive instrumental measurements of skin pigmentation have been used for many decades. All are based on the ability of melanin to attenuate light. However, hemoglobin in dermal capillaries also attenuates light and needs to be accounted for when pigmentation is assessed. The methods under consideration include: (a) single point measurements, in which light reflected from a defined skin area is collected and a pigment index is calculated representing the average pigmentation over the examined area, and (b) imaging methods that attempt to generate a concentration distribution map of melanin pigment for the skin area being imaged. In this article, we describe the potentials and the limitations of the different approaches to both single point and imaging methods.
authors.affiliation: Methods and Models Development, Johnson and Johnson Consumer Products, Skillman, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Georgios N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Stamatas
authors.forename: Barbara Z
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Zmudzka
authors.forename: Nikiforos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kollias
authors.forename: Janusz Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Beer
mesh_terms: D046169:Dermoscopy; D006801:Humans; D008543:Melanins / Q000032:analysis*; D012867:Skin / Q000528:radiation effects; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000528:radiation effects; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins