Monitoring Transepidermal Water Loss and Skin Wettedness Factor with Battery-Free NFC Sensor

• Main Authors: Syed Muhammad Ali, Wan-Young Chung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: near field communication (NFC); transepidermal water loss (TEWL); skin wettedness factor (SWF); smart skincare sensor device tag; android application interface
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/19/5549

The transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and the skin wettedness factor (SWF) are considered parts of a key perspective related to skincare. The former is used to determine the loss of water content from the stratum corneum (SC), while the latter is used to determine the human skin comfort level. Herein, we developed two novel approaches: (1) determination of the TEWL and the SWF based on a battery-free humidity sensor, and (2) the design of a battery-free smart skincare sensor device tag that can harvest energy from a near field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphone, making it a battery-free design approach. The designed skincare device tag has a diameter of 2.6 cm and could harvest energy (~3 V) from the NFC-enabled smartphone. A series of experimental tests involving the participation of eight and six subjects were conducted in vivo for the indoor and outdoor environments, respectively. During the experimental analysis, the skin moisture content level was measured at different times of the day using an android smartphone. The TEWL and SWF values were calculated based on these sensor readings. For the TEWL case: if the skin moisture is high, the TEWL is high, and if the skin moisture is low, the TEWL is low, ensuring that the skin moisture and the TEWL follow the same trend. Our smart skincare device is enclosed in a 3D flexible design print, and it is battery-free with an android application interface that is more convenient to carry outside than other commercially available battery-based devices.