Evaluation of Hydration Effect on Human Skinby 1H MRS at 14.1T

Abstract

Purpose : We achieved high resolution MR imaging and spectra of human skin in vitro with using a 14.1 T MRI/MRS system, and evaluated the hydration effect of various cosmetic products by measuring the skin’s moisture concentration. Materials and Methods : We used the Bruker 14.1 T MRI/MRS system with a vertical standard bore that was equipped with a DMX spectrometer gradient system (200 G/cm at a maximum 40 A), RF resonators (2, 5 and 10 mm) and Para Vision software. Spin echo and fast spin echo pulse sequences were employed for obtaining the high resolution MR images. The 3D-localized point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) method was used to acquire the MR spectra. Results : The high resolution MR images and spectra of human skin in vitro were successfully obtained on a 14.1T system. The water concentration of human skin after applying a moisturizer was higher than that before applying a moisturizer. Conclusions : The present study demonstrated that the high-resolution MR images and spectra of human skin from a high field NMR instrument could be applicable to evaluating the hydration state of the stratum corneum.