Thermal-based skin moisture device with contact pressure sensor

This paper reports on a thermal-based device for measuring water content in human skin. The device consists of resistive temperature detectors (RTD) and a pressure sensor. The RTD was also used as a heat source, and the pressure sensor was used to obtain constant thermal contact. Water content was measured by heat extraction rate across device interface under constant contact pressure. The device detected difference in water content of a contact object from 0.02 to 0.56g/cm³ by measuring step response of the RTD in 3 seconds. Difference in water content of the human skin was actually detectable with the device in 3 seconds.