Skip to main content
Log in

Assessment of skin erythema by eye, laser Doppler flowmeter, spectroradiometer, two-channel erythema meter and Minolta chroma meter

  • Original Contributions
  • Published:
Archives of Dermatological Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Visual grading, a laser Doppler flowmeter, a spectroradiometer, a two-channel erythema meter and a Minolta chroma meter were compared in the measurement of erythemas arising from immediate contact reactions produced either by 250 mM benzoic acid or 10 mM methyl nicotinate in petrolatum in an open application test or by ultraviolet irradiation. A good correlation between visual grading and objectively measured values was found for all the instruments, buth the laser Doppler flowmeter gave proportionally lower values for the ultraviolet erythemas than the skin reflectance meters, suggesting that these differ from erythemas induced by benzoic acid or methyl nicotinate. The laser Doppler flowmeter gave less repeatable results than other meters when measuring moderate and pronounced erythemas produced by ultraviolet irradiation. Measuring both the blood flow and the actual erythema may give more information about the reaction than either measurement system alone.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Agner T, Serup J (1989) Skin reactions to irritants assessed by non-invasive bioengineering methods. Contact Dermatitis 20: 352–359

    Google Scholar 

  2. Agner T, Serup J (1990) Sodium lauryl sulphate for irritant patch testing — a dose-response study using bioengineering methods for determination of skin irritation. J Invest Dermatol 95: 543–547

    Google Scholar 

  3. Anderson KE, Staberg B (1985) Quantification of contact allergy in guinea pigs by measuring changes in skin blood flow and skin fold thickness. Acta Derm Venereol (Stockh) 65: 37–42

    Google Scholar 

  4. Babulak SW, Rhein LD, Scala DD, Simion FA, Grove GL (1986) Quantification of erythema in a soap chamber test using the Minolta croma (reflectance) meter: comparison of instrumental results with visual assessments. J Soc Cosmet Chem 37: 475–479

    Google Scholar 

  5. Blanken R, Valk PGM van der, Nater JP (1986) Laser-Doppler flowmetry in the investigation of irritant compounds on human skin. Dermatosen 34: 5–9

    Google Scholar 

  6. Chamberlin GJ, Chamberlin DG (1980) Colour: its measurement, computation and application. Heyden and Son, London

    Google Scholar 

  7. Farr PM, Diffey BL (1984) Quantitative studies on cutaneous erythema induced by ultraviolet radiation. Br J Dermatol 111: 673–682

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hunter RS (1975) The measurement of appearance. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  9. Kopola H, Lahti A, MyllylÄ R, Hannuksela M (1990) A skin erythema meter. SPIE 1201. (Optical Fibres in Medicine V) pp 345–352

  10. Nilsson GE, Otto U, Wahlberg JE (1982) Assessment of skin irritancy in man by laser Doppler flowmetry. Contact Dermatitis 8: 401–406

    Google Scholar 

  11. Robertson AR (1977) The CIE 1976 color difference formulas. Color Res Appl 2: 7–11

    Google Scholar 

  12. Serup J, Agner T (1990) Colorimetric quantification of erythema — a comparison of two colorimeters (Lange Micro Color and Minolta Chroma Meter CR-200) with a clinical scoring scheme and laser-Doppler flowmetry. Clin Exp Dermatol 15: 267–272

    Google Scholar 

  13. Staberg B, Klemp P, Serup J (1984) Patch test responses evaluated by cutaneous blood flow measurements. Arch Dermatol 120: 741–743

    Google Scholar 

  14. Westerhof W, Hasselt BAAM van, Kammeijer A (1986) Quantification of UV-induced erythema with a portable computer controlled chromameter. Photodermatology 3: 310–314

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wilhelm KP, Surber C, Maibach HI (1989) Quantification of sodium lauryl sulfate irritant dermatitis in man: comparison of four techniques: skin color reflectance, transepidermal water loss, laser Doppler flow measurement and visual scores. Arch Dermatol Res 281: 293–295

    Google Scholar 

  16. Willis CM, Stephens CJM, Wilkinson JD (1988) Assessment of erythema in irritant contact dermatitis: comparison between visual scoring and laser Doppler flowmetry. Contact Dermatitis 18: 138–142

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lahti, A., Kopola, H., Harila, A. et al. Assessment of skin erythema by eye, laser Doppler flowmeter, spectroradiometer, two-channel erythema meter and Minolta chroma meter. Arch Dermatol Res 285, 278–282 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371596

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00371596

Key words

Navigation