VISIA

What is Visia analysis?

VISIA is an in-depth analysis of your individual facial characteristics. It lets you see the benefits of skin care programs planned for your specific complexion.

How does the Visia skin analysis work?

The VISIA will scan your skin, looking at its strengths and weaknesses. VISIA scans measure your skin pigmentation, pore size, and porphyrins (evidence of bacteria lodged in pores). It also scans UV spots, sun damage, texture, and wrinkles. With this assessment of your skin, we can compare your skin condition within your peer group. This helps us develop a more targeted treatment program for your specific needs, while also tracking your progress and treatment outcomes over time.

What can I expect during my appointment?

VISIA captures left, right, and frontal facial views, giving us a clear picture of your skin. In minutes, you will be able to view your scans on the computer screen. Your first analysis will become the baseline for your treatment progress. You will be able to view your own before and after pictures and see for yourself how your skin treatment plan is helping you.

Surface Spots are typically brown or red skin lesions, including freckles, acne scars, hyperpigmentation, and vascular lesions, distinguishable by their distinct colour Porphyrins are bacterial excretions that can become lodged in pores and lead to acne. They fluoresce in UV light and exhibit circular white spot characteristics.

Porphyrins are photographed with ultraviolet illumination, and are represented by yellow circles. They vary in size and shape, and are normally visible to the naked eye. Surface Spots are photographed with standard lighting, and are outlined in blue within the mask area.

UV Spots occur when melanin is accumulated just below the skin surface as a result of sun damage. Since UV Spots may not be visible under normal lighting conditions, they are photographed with ultraviolet illumination. The selective absorption of the UV light by the epidermal melanin enhances its display and detection by VISIA. UV Spots are outlined by yellow circles. The image is processed to a neutral grey to provide enhanced contrast between the UV Spots and surrounding skin.

Brown Spots are lesions on and deeper within the skin such as hyperpigmentation, freckles, lentigines, and melasma. They produce an uneven appearance to the skin. Brown Spots occur from an excess of melanin. Melanin is produced by melanocytes in the bottom layer of the epidermis. Brown Spots are detected in VISIA by RBX® Technology using cross-polarized imaging and are outlined in yellow. The entire image is processed using Canfield’s RBX Technology to provide a clear visualization of the pigmentation.

Red Areas can represent a variety of conditions, such as acne, inflammation, rosacea, or spider veins. Blood vessels and haemoglobin contained in the papillary dermis, a sub-layer of skin, give these structures their red colour, which is detected by the RBX Technology in VISIA. Acne spots and inflammation vary in size, but are generally round in shape. Rosacea is usually larger and diffuse compared to acne, and spider veins typically are short, thin and can be interconnected in a dense network. Red Areas are photographed with cross-polarized lighting, and are represented by light blue areas. The entire image is processed using RBX to provide a clear visualization of the vascularity. Wrinkles are furrows, folds, or creases in the skin, identified by their characteristic long, narrow shape. They are associated with a decrease in skin elasticity and increase in occurrence as a result of sun exposure.

Wrinkles are photographed with standard lighting. Dark green lines represent the most pronounced wrinkles and light green represents finer lines.

Texture is primarily an analysis of skin smoothness. Texture measures skin colour and smoothness by identifying gradations in colour from the surrounding skin tone, as well as peaks and valleys on the skin surface that indicate variations in the surface topography. Texture is photographed with standard lighting and is represented by yellow for raised areas and blue for depressions. The masked area of the image is processed to provide an enhanced visualization of the skin surface.

Pores are the circular surface openings of sweat gland ducts. Due to shadowing, Pores appear darker than the surrounding skin tone and are identified by their darker colour and circular shape. The VISIA system distinguishes Pores from Spots based on size; by definition, the area of a Pore is much smaller than a Spot. Pores are photographed with standard lighting, with each pore represented by a dark blue circle. The size of the circle corresponds to the size of the pore.

Porphyrins are bacterial excretions that can become lodged in pores and lead to acne. They fluoresce in UV light and exhibit circular white spot characteristics. Porphyrins are photographed with ultraviolet illumination, and are represented by yellow circles.