JPH0687840B2 - Method for measuring sebum amount for beauty counseling and apparatus used therefor - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for measuring the amount of sebum present on the surface of human skin and a device used therefor for cosmetic counseling.

[Conventional technology]

There are individual differences in the amount of sebum secreted on the surface of human skin, and people with less skin are more likely to have rough skin and those with more skin are more likely to have greasy skin. Therefore, in order to keep the skin healthy, it is necessary to know the characteristics of one's own skin and then use a cosmetic that suits one's own. Therefore, conventionally, it has been performed to scientifically evaluate the characteristics of the skin, for example, the sebum on the skin surface is collected according to a predetermined method, which is then subjected to a chemical extraction such as a solvent extraction method or an osmic acid filter paper method. Quantification is performed by a conventional method.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, all of these methods require a special drug or a complicated device, and thus are generally difficult to be used unless they are carried out by a specialist at a specific facility such as a laboratory or a hospital.

On the other hand, when performing beauty counseling at a cosmetics store, etc., the clerk can easily operate to measure the skin condition of the customer and recommend the cosmetics suitable for the customer. A device for measuring the amount of sebum has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-33095). However,
This one is designed so that the measuring circuit is activated and the indicator meter is shaken while the power switch is pressed.
Since the indicated value of the meter is directly affected by the change in the resistance value of the object to be measured and the CdS cell which is the sensor with time, there is a drawback that it is difficult to read an accurate value.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, at the storefront of homes and cosmetics stores, etc., it is possible to easily and accurately measure the amount of sebum, for the person to be measured based on the measurement results. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for measuring the amount of sebum capable of performing proper beauty counseling and an apparatus used therefor.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention performs ultraviolet irradiation from a light source to a predetermined reference plate surface, and then performs ultraviolet irradiation from a light source to the skin surface to generate on the reference plate surface and the skin surface. The luminescence amount of the excited fluorescence is measured and extracted as an electric signal, and the ratio of the luminescence amount of the skin surface (B) to the luminescence amount of the reference plate (B) is calculated from this electric signal to calculate the luminescence intensity (B / A) of the skin surface. ) Is obtained, and the obtained numerical value is applied to the function curve showing the relationship between the amount of sebum prepared in advance and the luminescence intensity or the following functional formula derived from this function curve to obtain the amount of sebum. the amount measuring method as a first aspect, the amount of sebum ^{(μg / cm 2) = 16} × luminous intensity (%) and the reference plate resulting excitation fluorescence by connexion predetermined amount ultraviolet, the reference plate or the skin surface to the tip portion It has a rod-shaped measuring tool to be used by pressing, and a main body connected to this measuring tool, and forms an opening at the center of the tip surface of the measuring tool, and inside the measuring tool, outward from the opening. A plurality of ultraviolet lamps for irradiating ultraviolet rays, and a light-receiving element for light emission, which is attached around the ultraviolet lamps with the sensing surface facing outward, and which measures the amount of excited fluorescence emitted from the skin and extracts it as an electric signal. Arithmetic processing set in the main body section so as to divide the B value by the A value using the electric signals of the reference plate luminescence amount (A) and the skin surface luminescence amount (B) obtained by the measuring tool. A second gist is a light emission intensity measuring device provided with a circuit and display means for displaying the light emission intensity (B / A) by a processing signal output from the arithmetic processing circuit.

[Action]

That is, this inventor, in the process of conducting a series of studies on a method for easily measuring the amount of sebum on the skin surface at the store or at home for beauty counseling, when the skin surface is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, excited fluorescence is generated in the irradiation part, The fact that this fluorescence emission amount has a high correlation with the amount of sebum on the skin surface was found. Then, the idea that the amount of fluorescence excited by irradiating the surface of the skin with ultraviolet rays can be converted into the amount of sebum was inspired, and further research was conducted. As a result, the amount of excited fluorescence changes subtly for each measurement, so
First, the reference plate that generates a predetermined amount of excitation fluorescence is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to measure the excitation fluorescence of the reference plate, and then the skin surface is irradiated with ultraviolet rays to measure the excitation fluorescence of the skin surface and the excitation fluorescence of the reference plate. It has been found that when the ratio of the amount of excited fluorescence on the skin surface to the amount (in the present invention, this is referred to as "emission intensity") is determined, the amount of excited fluorescence can be accurately read. Then, the amount of sebum can be easily obtained from the above emission intensity, and the present invention has been reached.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the emission intensity measuring device used in the present invention. This apparatus includes a main body 1, a rod-shaped measuring tool 2 connected to the main body 1, a reference plate 3 made of a fluorescent coating substance that stably emits a predetermined amount of fluorescence, and the measuring tool 2 It is configured by a remote switch 4 that gives a start and stop instruction of measurement to the.

The main body 1 has a built-in predetermined processing circuit for processing the measurement data from the measuring tool 2, and the processing result is displayed by the display means 5 on the front surface by a numeral of up to three digits. It is becoming like this. In addition, 6 is the power on,
A power switch for turning off and a reference numeral 7 for an adjustment knob for performing reference adjustment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above-mentioned measuring tool 2 has a substantially cylindrical casing 12 having a slightly tipped end and an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays (a low-pressure mercury lamp with a phosphor, HTV.L-1549- 04) 13
Is built in, and four excitation fluorescent light receiving elements 14 are equally arranged around it (see FIG. 3, which is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'in FIG. 2). Then, a filter 15 is attached to the lower side of the ultraviolet lamp 13 that transmits only ultraviolet rays and absorbs unnecessary light rays other than that, and only visible light rays are provided on the lower side of the excitation fluorescent light receiving elements 14, respectively. A filter 16 is attached which transmits and absorbs other unwanted light rays. Therefore, when the measuring tool 2 is erected vertically and the opening 17 of the lower end surface is pressed against the surface of the object to be measured as shown in FIG. 2, the ultraviolet lamp 13 irradiates the object toward the object. Excitation fluorescence is generated on the surface of the object.
This excited fluorescence is as shown by the arrow B in FIG.
Since it is reflected upward from the surface of the object, it is read by the four excitation fluorescent light receiving elements 14 around the ultraviolet lamp 13, and the total amount thereof is sent to the division processing circuit in the main body 1 as an electric signal. It is being entered. As shown in FIG. 1, two connecting cords 8 and 9 extend from the measuring tool 2 and one cord 8 is connected to a power source section in the main body section 1 to measure the inside of the measuring tool 2. The other cord 9 is also connected to the measuring unit in the main body 1 so as to send the read data of the amount of excited fluorescence received by the measuring tool 2 to the measuring unit. .

On the other hand, inside the main body 1, as shown in FIG. 4, an amplifier 18 for amplifying the excitation fluorescence amount data sent from the inside of the measuring tool 2, and a noise filter 19 for absorbing extra noise. , From the input excitation fluorescence amount data, (excitation fluorescence amount of skin surface / excitation fluorescence amount of reference plate 3) x 100
There is provided a division processing circuit 20 for calculating (%) to obtain the light emission intensity on the skin surface. The display means 5 for replacing the output signal from the circuit 20 with a visual numerical display is provided on the front surface of the main body 1 as described above (see FIG. 1).

Using this luminescence intensity measuring device, the amount of sebum on the skin surface can be determined, for example, as follows. First, the power switch 6 is turned on and the device is energized for 20 to 30 minutes. Then, the measuring tool 2 and the remote switch 4 corresponding to the measuring tool 2 are gripped in the left and right hands respectively, and the tip opening 17 of the measuring tool 2 is lightly pressed against the surface of the reference plate 3 with one hand. Then, the remote switch 4 is pushed with the other hand to measure the amount of excitation fluorescence of the reference plate 3. This measured value is displayed on the display means 5.
Displayed as 100. Next, the tip opening 17 of the measuring tool 2 is lightly pressed against the skin surface of the measurement subject, and the same operation as above is repeated to measure the amount of excited fluorescence on the skin surface. The measured value is converted into a percentage with respect to the excitation fluorescence amount of the reference plate 3 by the division processing circuit 20 and displayed on the display means 5 as a number of up to 3 digits.

As described above, according to the measurement value of the emission intensity, the excitation fluorescence from the target surface generated by the irradiation of the ultraviolet rays is received by the four light receiving elements 14 arranged in a ring, and the amount of light received by the four light receiving elements 14 is received. Since the amount of excited fluorescence is read as the sum of the above, there is an advantage that the amount of excited fluorescence is measured as a more averaged amount without being influenced by irradiation conditions, skin surface irregularities, and the like. Moreover, since the measurement result is displayed as a ratio with respect to the excitation fluorescence amount of the reference plane 3, the objective emission intensity can always be obtained.

Note that, as shown in FIG. 5, the experiment by the present inventors has revealed that the greater the amount of sebum, the higher the emission intensity. Therefore, the amount of sebum corresponding to the measured emission intensity can be obtained from the diagram of FIG.

Further, the following functional expressions relating to the amount of sebum and the emission intensity can be derived from the diagram shown in FIG.

The amount of sebum (μg / cm ² ) = 16 x emission intensity (%) Therefore, the amount of sebum corresponding to the measured emission intensity can be obtained from this formula.

Therefore, if this device is installed at the store of a cosmetics store and the graph of FIG. 5 showing the relationship between the emission intensity and the amount of sebum or the paper showing the above functional formula is prepared, the clerk can easily carry out the operation. It is possible to measure the luminescence intensity of the customer's skin surface and specify the amount of sebum of that customer in light of this diagram or functional formula.Therefore, beauty counseling is performed based on the numerical value and the characteristics of that customer's skin are evaluated. The appropriate cosmetics can be recommended and appropriate services can be provided.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, only the luminescence intensity is measured. However, the luminescence intensity may be measured, and at the same time, the UV reflectance having a high correlation with the UV protection ability may be measured together. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, an exciting fluorescent light receiving element 14 for receiving two exciting fluorescent light is provided at symmetrical positions of the measuring tool 2 with the ultraviolet lamp 13 interposed therebetween, and Two light receiving elements 30 for reflected light for receiving reflected light of ultraviolet rays are provided at a position deviated from the excitation fluorescent light receiving element 14 by 90 ° in the circumferential direction. Then, in the vicinity of the ultraviolet lamp 13, a light emitting light receiving element 31 for measuring the amount of light emitted from the ultraviolet lamp 13 is provided. Further, a filter 29 that transmits only ultraviolet rays and absorbs other unnecessary light rays is attached to these light receiving elements 30 and 31. Furthermore, in the measurement section of the main body 1,
In addition to the processing circuit for emission intensity shown in FIG. 4, the circuit for ultraviolet reflectance shown in FIG. 8 is provided. This circuit includes an amplifier 32 for amplifying the light emission amount data and the reflection amount data sent from the measuring tool 2, a noise filter 33 for absorbing excess noise, and an input light emission amount data. And the amount of reflection data, (reflection / emission)
A division processing circuit 34 is provided for calculating × 100 (%) to obtain the reflectance. Then, the display means 35 for replacing the output signal from the circuit 34 with a visual numerical display,
As shown in FIG. 9, they are provided side by side next to the display means 5 for displaying the emission intensity of the main body 1. It should be noted that symbols such as VR are indicated below the indication of the emission intensity and UV is indicated below the indication of the ultraviolet reflectance so that the indication of the emission intensity and the indication of the ultraviolet reflectance are not misread. Is desirable.
According to this configuration, the emission intensity can be measured by the two excitation fluorescence light receiving elements 14 in the same manner as in the above embodiment, and the skin surface can be measured by the two light receiving elements 30 for reflected light. It is possible to read the amount of reflected ultraviolet light from the sample and obtain the ultraviolet reflectance as a ratio to the amount of emitted ultraviolet light obtained by the light receiving element 31 for light emission. Therefore, it is possible to evaluate not only the amount of sebum but also the ability of the subject to protect against ultraviolet rays, and more detailed beauty counseling can be performed.

Further, in the above example, the luminescence intensity is displayed as a numerical value, but the functional formula of the sebum amount and the luminescence intensity is stored in advance in the measuring unit, and the luminescence intensity obtained by the measurement is the sebum amount. You may make it display after converting into.
By doing so, it is not necessary to compare the measurement results with the table of FIG. 5 one by one, and the amount of sebum can be immediately evaluated.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of sebum on the skin surface, which was conventionally difficult to objectively measure, by measuring the amount of fluorescence excited on the skin surface by ultraviolet irradiation, It can be easily obtained as an objective number.
Therefore, it is possible to easily and accurately measure the amount of sebum at home or in the store of a cosmetics store, and based on the measurement result, the store clerk or the door-to-door salesperson can perform appropriate beauty counseling. . In particular, according to the device of the present invention,
Ultraviolet irradiation from one point of the light source is received at multiple places, and the excitation fluorescence from the skin surface is read by the light receiving elements installed at multiple places.Therefore, the amount of excitation fluorescence depends on the irradiation conditions and the unevenness of the skin surface. Since it is measured as an averaged amount regardless of the influence, it has an advantage that the measured value is highly reliable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the device for measuring the amount of sebum according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the measuring tool of the above embodiment,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a circuit system in the measuring section of the above-mentioned embodiment, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the fluorescence emission intensity and the amount of sebum, and FIG. Is a longitudinal sectional view showing a measuring tool of another embodiment, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 7, and FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a part of a circuit system in a measuring section of the other embodiment. FIG. 9 is a front view showing the display means of the other embodiment. 1 ... main body part, 2 ... measuring tool, 3 ... reference plate, 4 ... remote switch, 5 ... display means, 12 ... casing,
13 ... UV lamp, 14 ... Excited fluorescent light receiving element, 17 ...
Opening, 20 ... Division processing circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A predetermined reference plate surface is irradiated with ultraviolet light from a light source, and then a skin surface is irradiated with ultraviolet light from a light source to determine the amount of excited fluorescence emitted on the reference plate surface and the skin surface, respectively. It was obtained by measuring and extracting as an electric signal, and calculating the ratio of the skin surface luminescence amount (B) to the reference plate luminescence amount (A) from this electric signal to obtain the skin surface luminescence intensity (B / A). The amount of sebum for beauty counseling is characterized by applying a numerical value to a function curve showing the relationship between the amount of sebum prepared in advance and the emission intensity or the following function formula derived from this function curve to obtain the amount of sebum. Method. Sebum amount (μg / cm ² ) = 16 x emission intensity (%) 2. A reference plate which produces a predetermined amount of excitation fluorescence by ultraviolet rays, a rod-shaped measuring tool which is used by pressing its tip against the reference plate or the surface of the skin, and a main body which is connected to the measuring tool. And an opening is formed in the center of the tip surface of the measuring tool, and an ultraviolet lamp that radiates ultraviolet rays outward from the opening in the measuring tool, and a sensing surface outward around the ultraviolet lamp. A plurality of light-receiving elements for light emission that measure the amount of excited fluorescence emitted from the skin and are taken out as an electric signal are provided in the state where the reference plate luminescence amount obtained by the measuring tool is provided in the main body ( The light emission intensity (B / A) is calculated by an arithmetic processing circuit that is set to divide the B value by the A value using the electric signals of A) and the skin surface luminescence amount (B), and the processing signal output from the arithmetic processing circuit. ) Display means for displaying Emission intensity measuring device according to symptoms.