Research to reduce pain and increase comfort using skin cleaning materials

During her nursing career, Professor Emeritus Hiroko Shimizu focused on the need for nursing care to promote and support patient recovery and found that the use of steam cloths helped relax patients and reduce their physical and mental pain. Shimizu is affiliated with Kagawa University and has been working to investigate the impact of skin cleaning materials on the brain waves of patients. Shimizu and her collaborators set out to create something that could warm people affected by disasters and relieve the pain of cancer patients. The researchers were the first to employ a method invented by Professor Ichirou Ishimaru to measure moisture using near-infrared two-dimensional Fourier spectrometry. They measured moisture smearing on the skin and found a softening and smoothing effect on the skin. This led them to develop a steam-generating cleaning tool that induces relaxation without a towel or cloth. Part of Shimizu’s work concentrates on developing new techniques and measurement methods needed to verify her findings. The researchers also used text analysis of the subjects’ statements and psychological images to project their thoughts and attitudes towards the care provided, as well as an electroencephalogram analysis by a neurologist, Visiting Professor Tetsuo Toge, to correlate the results. Shimizu plans to incorporate an analysis of steam volume and moisture or images with temperature and humidity into her considerations. In one study, Professor Hidekuni Takao, who shared Professor Shimizu's research, is working as the representative of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)-CREST project to develop a rare device to measure the shape of the skin surface. The goal is that the integrated semiconductor tactile sensor the researchers are developing will have equal or even greater sensitivity and performance than that of a human fingerprint.