Assessing Nail Properties

For the first time objective, highly accurate measurements on the nail are possible. In collaboration with Prof. Paola Perugini from the University of Pavia in Italy we have developed a patented device to analyse mechanical properties of nails, such as firmness, elasticity and thickness.

With its exceptional small measuring chamber (only 2 mm Ø), the Tewameter^® TM Nano allows to measure the Transonychial Water Loss (TOWL) in g/h/m² on nails.

The Visioscan^® VC 20plus is a unique UVA-light video camera with high resolution to study the skin surface directly. The SELS^® parameters (Surface Evaluation of the Living Skin) have been developed especially for this camera and are used in numerous studies. The camera can be used on skin, hair and nails. With its multi-functional software, the Visioscan^® VC 20plus is a very flexible system to characterize skin surface condition easily, accurately and very economically. It had been used on board of the International Space Station ISS for several years.

Corneofix^® is a special adhesive tape collecting corneocytes (flakes of dead cells). The number, size and thickness of the flakes indicate the quality of the nail. When mounted on the Visioscan^® camera, desquamation can be evaluated by its software.

Measuring the pH-value on the nail plays an important role in efficacy testing of different formulations of nail cosmetic and - care. To evaluate the general state and health of hand and nails the Skin-pH-Meter is used.

22 MHz ultrasound is an interesting tool to measure skin and nail thickness and density in vivo with plenty of different applications. The Ultrascan UC 22 is OEM made especially for C+K and our customers to complete the product range of skin testing parameters with an extremely economic, easy to handle and absolutely accurate ultrasound device for cosmetic research.