Substantiation of certain cosmetics claims can be subjective and less than convincing. SPC talked to Annie Brooking, ceo of Astron Clinica about the potential contribution of a new product to demonstrate efficacy
Skin lightening has been big business in Asia for some time but has now become one of the hottest skin care trends globally. And while products in the west that claim to even out skin tone and fade age spots are gaining popularity, whitening claims now extend across all manner of product sectors throughout much of Asia. But until now it has been difficult to quantify the performance of such products and data has essentially been visual and therefore subjective.
“Efficacy testing and validation of skin products needs increasingly rigorous scientific methodology if it is going to stand up to regulator and consumer demands,” says Annie Brooking, ceo of Astron Clinica. “It's about quantitative data as well as qualitative results.”
The development that Astron Clinica believes will be able to provide this is Cosmetrics, the latest addition to its Dermetrics skin cosmetics family that combines SIAscopy with various tools that facilitate the collection, management and analysis of data during cosmetic product trials. SIAscopy (spectrophotometric intracutaneous analysis) is the company's proprietary skin imaging technology that enables the visualisation of up to 2mm beneath the surface of the skin via the use of a proprietary hand held scanner weighing just 250g (contact) - the first version was a five foot high black box - and a regular digital camera (non-contact). The equipment is approved by the FDA as the technology is already used by doctors and dermatologists in the detection of skin cancer. Dermetrics is skin imaging software that is used to record and analyse malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, psoriasis and other skin conditions, aiding efficacy testing and validating skin treatments and products.
SIAscopy is said to understand the way light interacts with skin, ie the way it scatters or bounces, the amount absorbed by cells and other structures and the differences changes in wavelength or colour make. "By understanding these interactions and comparing reading as light is sent into the skin and emerges back out, SIAscopy is able to determine the nature and position of many of the different cells and structures within skin," says Astron Clinica.
“Procter & Gamble was the first to identify the fact that the three chromophores of haemoglobin, melanin and collagen determine the way skin looks,” says Brooking. And many cosmetic and skin care products are formulated to interact with these three core components of skin. “We're the only company that can measure those three in situ, ie without taking a biopsy, which is very important with cosmetics,” she adds.
Brooking says the company felt it was important to do something to help cosmetics companies validate claims and did some early work with L'Oréal and Dior on skin whitening. “At that time we had the technology but we didn't have the right product so we built Cosmetrics,” she says. SIAscopy measures the amount of haemoglobin, melanin and collagen and whether melanin is in the epidermis or the dermis. The information is presented as SIAscan maps showing how these measurements vary over the skin. “Cosmetrics is also managing the data so does the statistical analysis for you,” says Brooking. “The computer looks at all the scans and can provide evidence for product claims, particularly with proliferation or skin whitening and age spots. It is possible to measure colour and size of age spots.” As well as being objective the process is repeatable, and all the scans are digital with pixels measured from three million locations. It is also said to be useful for looking at things like thread veins.
The key target audience for Cosmetrics is test houses and manufacturers; together the software and hardware costs around £18,000. It is in basic tests at the moment with a few cosmetic companies and the company expects to be taking orders in a month or two. “Our mission is to have 'tested with SIAscopy' on pack as the standard,” says Brooking. “And this is just the beginning for Cosmetrics. We're also looking at wrinkles. In the future we might also look at different types of melanin and we might look more exactly at melanin, ie measuring the size of age spots. At the moment we can get an average of an area but not an exact size but we know we can do this as our Moleview product already does. Also on the product road map are sun lotions. This is still an area of research for us but it would be a case of looking at increases in melanin and increases and decreases in erythema. We will certainly be coming out with measurements for sun damaged skin at some point. We believe Cosmetrics provides the quantitative breakthrough that cosmetics formulators have been looking for - substantiating skin product claims with real data for the first time.”