Conference Contribution Details

 

Bob Imhof, Chloe Elliott & George Kramer.
Poster Presentation, SCC Annual Scientific Meeting & Technology Showcase, New York 2008.

 

Summary:-

The aim of this work is to develop a method for calculating stratum corneum (SC) properties from measurements of TEWL changes during tape stripping. TEWL is modelled as diffusion in two connected zones: the stratum corneum and the adjacent air. Water diffuses from the living epidermis to the SC surface, where it evaporates into the air zone. In the steady-state, the flux density in the two zones is equal and surface evaporation is described by the sorption isotherm.

We will present results from our first calculations with uniform SC, where a near-reciprocal relationship between TEWL and removed SC thickness was found. We also calculate peak flux density immediately after stripping, from which measurement errors can be estimated.

Work is in progress to extend the model to include SC heterogeneity, to discover how changes of SC diffusion coefficient with depth map into deviations from the reciprocal relationship between TEWL and removed SC thickness. Also planned are non-steady-state calculations to estimate recovery times to steady-state conditions after each strip.

 

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