Shiseido Develops “4D-Digital Skin” (Electronic Skin), Finally Reconstructing Skin Movement on Computer

Shiseido Company, Limited (“Shiseido”) has developed an innovative skin analysis technology called “4D-digital skin” in collaboration with Kyoichi Matsuzaki, Chief of External Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine at the International University of Health and Welfare, together with researchers at Jichi Medical University and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences. This ground-breaking technology not only visualizes the skin’s internal structures in three dimensions (3D) at ultraーhigh resolution, but also follows the movements of all these structures during deformation of the skin, so that skin dynamics can be analyzed in detail on computer. With this technology, the causes of wrinkles and sagging can be identified, providing a rational basis for developing novel cosmetic solutions. Some of these research results were presented at the 31st IFSCC Congress 2020 Yokohama (The Virtual Congress) held from October 21 to 30, 2020(*1). At this Congress, Shiseido’s presenter, Tomonobu Ezure, Ph.D., received the top award, completing an unprecedented four consecutive Congress award wins by Dr. Ezure.
This research is based on the “Inside/Outside” approach according to Shiseido’s unique R＆D philosophy of “DYNAMIC HARMONY”. In this approach, we focus on the skin from both the inside (using the “4D-digital skin” technology) and the outside (using proprietary facial morphology analysis technology). By combining these different perspectives, we can achieve a global understanding of facial aging, enabling us to create innovative anti-aging products and treatments.
*1 IFSCC: The International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists

What are the fundamental properties of skin?

The skin is constantly being deformed by gravity and facial expressions, and flexibly recovers from these deformations. With aging, the recovery is impaired, leading to wrinkles and sagging (aged appearance). Therefore, to develop rational anti-aging solutions, it is important to shed light on skin dynamics; in other words, to understand skin movement and its mechanism under such deformation.
Recently, this research team was the first to develop a technology to analyze “static” skin in three dimensions at ultrahigh resolution, which we called “digital-3D skin”. Based on the accumulation of knowledge through this development of digital-3D skin, the team set out to develop new technology to clarify skin movement.

Digital reconstruction of skin movement on computer

First, the research team applied various deformations (compression, bending, stretching, etc.) to skin samples and observed the movements of the internal skin structures in three dimensions using X-ray CT. Next, the team used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify each of the skin structures in the huge amount of image data and to trace how each structure moved during skin deformation. Then, the information on the identity and movement of each skin structure was digitally reconstructed on a computer to create electronic skin. The team designated this electronic skin “4D-digital skin” (See Figure1 in the PDF).

Intuitive understanding of complex skin movements

This “4D-digital skin” can be manipulated on computer and pictures the movements of the skin components at ultrahigh resolution in color. Since the skin is digitally created, it can be freely cut on computer (digital anatomy) (See Figure 2 in the PDF), and specific structures can be isolated (digital sorting) (See Figure 3 in the PDF). Furthermore, the deformation amount can be quantified, and the deformation direction can be indicated with an arrow for analysis (See Figure 4 in the PDF). Thus, “4D-digital skin” enables researchers to easily analyze the complex skin structures and their movements and intuitively understand them.

Opening the door to a new era of skin analysis

The development of “4D-digital skin” has dramatically expanded research targets and made it possible to understand the real dynamics of skin movements. With this technology, the fundamental causes of wrinkles and sagging can be identified. This in turn provides a rational basis for the creation of innovative beauty products and techniques.