Skin capacitance imaging, a new technique for investigating the skin surface.

Thanks to the recently introduced silicone image sensor technology, skin capacitance imaging has now been made possible. The dedicated device is called SkinChip. This method is easy to handle and provides information about the skin microrelief, the level of stratum corneum hydration and the sweat gland activity. The apparatus sees and measures these parameters with a 50 microm resolution. A series of conditions have been explored using skin capacitance imaging. This review summarizes relevant findings about regional variability on the body, changes occurring with ageing, effects of a hydrating formulation, reactivity kinetics of corneocytes to surfactants, acne and skin pores characteristics, as well as hyperkeratotic dermatoses and tumours.