Patent ID: 7238494

Claim:
A method of measuring skin cholesterol, which comprises the steps of: a) providing a tape comprising a backing member coated on at least one side thereof with a medical adhesive; b) applying the tape onto a selected area of skin to adhere the tape to the selected skin area; c) stripping the tape off the selected skin area to obtain a sample representative of a stratum comeurn layer of the skin, the sample adhering to the tape so as to have exposed skin constituents; d) providing a source of an affinity-enzymatic compound of formula A-C-B, wherein A is a detecting agent having affinity for cholesterol, B is an enzymatic visualizing agent and C is a binding agent linking said detecting agent and said visualizing agent to one another; e) applying a predetermined amount of said affinity-enzymatic compound onto a predetermined surface area of said sample adhered to the tape and allowing said compound to remain in contact therewith for a period of time sufficient to cause binding of said detecting agent to cholesterol present in said exposed skin constituents; and f) applying a predetermined amount of a color developing agent onto the predetermined surface area of said sample, whereby said color developing agent reacts with said enzymatic visualizing agent to form a colored product having a color indicative of cholesterol level.