Stratum corneum in vivo water content from TEWL-measurements.

In this paper we present a new pilot-study on the possibility of finding in vivo absolute water content of the stratum corneum (SC) non-invasively. The method is based on measurements of trans-epidermal-water-loss (TEWL) after an occlusion process of the SC. Based on the desorption curves from the occluded skin, estimates of absolute water content of the SC can be made by assuming a similar, but hypothetical, desorption of non-occluded SC.