Source: L’Oréal. Model wearing a My UV patch.
L’Oréal recently introduced My UV Patch at the Consumer Electronics Show. It is the first flexible skin sensor designed to track UV exposure and promote sun-safety awareness among consumers. This innovation arrives as sun exposure has become a significant health concern, with 90% of non-melanoma skin cancers linked to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, in addition to skin pigmentation and premature aging.
To address these escalating worries, L’Oréal Group’s skincare brand, La Roche-Posay, is pioneering a first-of-its-kind stretchable electronic device: My UV Patch. This transparent adhesive patch, unlike existing rigid wearables, conforms to the skin’s contours, adhering to any area users wish to monitor. At approximately one square inch and half the thickness of a human hair, the patch contains photosensitive dyes that account for the user’s natural skin tone and change color upon UV exposure, signaling different sun exposure levels.
Users can capture the patch’s changing colors in a photograph and upload it to the accompanying La Roche-Posay My UV Patch mobile app. The app analyzes the photosensitive dye squares to calculate the wearer’s UV exposure. The app, compatible with iOS and Android, will incorporate Near Field Communications (NFC) technology for patch scanning with Android devices.
Guive Balooch, Global Vice President of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, highlights the potential of connected technologies to revolutionize how we track skin exposure. He emphasizes that previous devices were limited to indicating potential hourly sun exposure and were bulky and inflexible. The goal was to create a thin, comfortable, and nearly weightless sensor that people would want to wear. He expresses excitement about L’Oréal being the first beauty company venturing into stretchable electronics and exploring its potential applications within and beyond the beauty sector.
This peel-and-stick wearable combines L’Oréal Group’s scientific expertise in skin and UV protection with the technological prowess of MC10, a company specializing in stretchable electronics for biometric healthcare analytics. PCH, with its 20 years of experience in product development, manufacturing, and supply chains, also contributed. L’Oréal’s US-based Technology Incubator, dedicated to innovation, spearheaded the development alongside MC10, which provided physiological sensing and pattern recognition algorithms, and PCH, which handled the sensor’s design engineering.
Scott Pomerantz, CEO of MC10, states that this partnership signifies a major step for MC10, showcasing the convergence of technology and beauty and the vast possibilities of connected devices within the beauty market.
Dr. Alysa Herman underscores the shared goal of increasing sun-safe behaviors. Citing a global study by La Roche-Posay across 23 countries involving 19,000 participants, she points out a significant gap between knowledge and action. My UV Patch, for the first time, uses technology to drive behavioral change through real-time feedback.
Recommended by over 25,000 dermatologists globally, La Roche-Posay provides a unique range of daily skincare products developed in collaboration with dermatologists. These products prioritize efficacy, tolerance, and elegant textures for better patient compliance. Developed with a strict formulation charter, they contain minimal ingredients to reduce side effects and reactivity, and they incorporate effective ingredients at optimal concentrations for enhanced efficacy.
Interested?
My UV Patch is anticipated to be available to the public later this year.
*Source: Skin Cancer Foundation 2015