Characterization of Hair Lipid Images by Argon Sputter Etching-Scanning Electron Microscopy

The study used argon sputter etching-scanning electron microscopy (ASE-SEM) to visualize hair lipid images, revealing convex structures with a stitch pattern (SP) at the cell membrane complex (CMC). Hair fibers from 27 Japanese females showed significant positive correlations between SP scores (Types 0 to 4) and levels of exogenous lipids, indicating that these lipids predominantly form the convex SP. Observations of 380 hair fibers from Japanese, German, and American females aged 3 to 77 years demonstrated similar age-related changes in lipid images, with exogenous lipid levels increasing and then decreasing with age. This suggests that age-related changes in sebum excretion affect hair texture.