Infrared Thermal Imaging for Assessing Human Perspiration and Evaluating Antiperspirant Product Efficacy

Abstract In humans, perspiration plays a crucial role in the regulation of core body temperature. For the mode of action and product efficacy studies of antiperspirant products, objective evaluation of perspiration is very important for studying the physiology of sweat gland function and mechanisms determining the amount of sweat excreted onto the skin. Various approaches have been developed for human perspiration measurement and for the evaluation of antiperspirant efficacy, which include visual, instrumental, and gravimetric methods. In this paper, we demonstrate the feasibility of infrared thermography as a multiscale imaging modality for the direct evaluation of sweat pore activation and for the quantification of sweat retention to assess the efficacy of antiperspirants.