Patent ID: 9730630
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61F

Claim:
1. A device for measuring skin elasticity comprising: a probe, wherein the probe comprises one or more holes, a vacuum source, a vacuum release valve, a pressure sensor, and one or more proximity sensors aligned about the one or more holes, wherein the proximity sensor is positioned to measure a deformation of skin both inside and outside of the probe, wherein the vacuum source is capable of increasing a vacuum from 0 to 150 mm of Hg over 6 seconds, and the vacuum release valve opens to atmospheric pressure such that a surface of the skin defined as reference point zero; a processor for recording the deformation of the skin using a control unit comprising a microcontroller connected to the proximity and the pressure sensors, wherein the one or more proximity sensors and the processor are adapted to automatically initiate a test when the one or more proximity sensors are positioned at a pre-determined distance from the skin, wherein a vacuum in the probe is capable of pulling skin into the one or more holes, and based on a release of the vacuum by the vacuum release valve, the one or more proximity sensors are capable of measuring an amount of skin drawn into and out of the one or more holes of the probe to determine an elasticity of the skin and the processor calculates a skin elasticity based on a recorded deformation both inside and outside the hole; and a display that plots concave and convex skin deformation across the reference point zero during a single measurement to determine viscoelastic properties of the skin.