The scanner has been developed over a five-year period by a group lead by professor Jürgen Lademann of the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergy of the Charité-University Medicine in Berlin (and sponsored by the German's Federal Ministry for Education and Research). Right now, it is being tested in Germany using a group of 19-year-old students.
How does it work?
The device—which will have a $280 price tag in Europe—is very simple: Point it at the skin, wait three minutes, and it will tell you how healthy you are in a scale from one (worst) to ten (optimal). The machine produces a light beam that reflects on the skin, analyzes the wavelengths reflected, and processes that information to figure out the anti-oxidants level in the skin. Before this Star Trek-style scanner, doctors needed to get tissue samples and process them in a laboratory to get the same kind of readings.
Skin test can prove unhealthy lifestyle - Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin Press Release
Universitätsmedizin Berlin has developed a unique measuring method which permits medical personnel, within minutes, to say whether the lifestyle of a person is healthy or unhealthy. This process is now being tested with the support of the Competence Networks for optical Technologies in a study with 50 students. The study aims to investigate whether young people will change their lifestyles and eating habits, if the consequences of unhealthy diets or the effects of the last party with alcohol and nicotine are made directly visible to them. At the same time, the students will have an opportunity to become closer acquainted with the current possibilities for optical technologies.
In a five year project, the working group of Prof. Jürgen Lademann of the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergy, Campus Mitte, developed a non-contact measurement method, in which light is sent on to and in to the skin. Part of the device’s projected light scatters back to the meter. This so-called backscatter contains valuable information which clearly describes like a fingerprint the life style and the stress factors of the test person. With this method, it is possible to demonstrate through the skin values, after two or three days, whether a person has stopped smoking and adopted a healthier diet. "We expect that the behavior of the students will change when they are quickly made aware of their own documented physical reaction to certain behaviors”, explains Prof. Lademann.