Understanding the Physiological Implications of Scanning Kelvin Probe Measurements

Massachusetts General Hospital24 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of skin thickness, skin moisture, and sweat gland density on Scanning Kelvin Probe measurements.

The Scanning Kelvin Probe measures the electrical potential of material surfaces without actually touching it. Although this technology has been applied to non-living materials (e.g. metal and semiconductors) before, it has not been effectively applied to biological materials, much less to live human skin . This project aims to evaluate the use of Scanning Kelvin Probe to live human skin by investigating the effects of skin thickness, skin moisture, and sweat glands on Kelvin Probe measurements of electrical potential. Testing will be performed on the arms and hands of twenty four healthy individuals under different study conditions.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy Individuals Skin Electrical Potential

Interventions

Skin Moistening, Skin DenudingOTHER

Application of normal saline to skin and Tape stripping of the superficial skin

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * "Healthy" is defined as not having a chronic medical condition requiring daily medications (hypertension, diabetes, hypothyroidism, etc) Exclusion Criteria: * autonomic disorders (sweating irregularities), skin disorders, extensive burns/scars on the hand, tremors, neuromuscular conditions, restless leg syndrome, movement disorders, and implanted cardiac defibrillator/pacemaker

Locations (1)

Massachusetts General Hospital - Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging

Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Surface Electrical Potential

The electrical potential of skin obtained from the Scanning Kelvin Probe

Time frame: 1 day

Secondary Outcomes

Electrical Impedance

Electrical impedance (measurement) obtained through another, more conventional measurement device.

Time frame: One day

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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