# Skin layer study

## Active original prototype — 2026-09-30

The current magnified skin viewer uses original SomaLens geometry and generated microrelief textures from app/skin-model.ts. No third-party mesh or photograph is loaded by this prototype. It depicts hair-bearing thin skin using a wavy shared epidermal/dermal interface, unequal adipose lobules, hair sheaths and bulbs, sebaceous lobules and ducts, eccrine coils and surface ducts, vessels, nerves, a magnified lamellated receptor, and connective fibres. The closed cut face exposes the schematic structures; the whole-block view conceals internals.

These are reference-informed shapes, not a reconstruction or scan of a specific person or biopsy. Size, depth, colors, and spacing are adjusted for teaching. Red and blue vascular colors are illustrative. Hair and eccrine features represent thin skin; thick palm/sole skin is not depicted. Layer separation is an exploded illustration.

Reference photographs and descriptions consulted for structure, not copied into textures:
- University of Leeds, Skin layers: https://histology.leeds.ac.uk/home/skin/skin_layers/
- University of Leeds, Epithelial glands: https://histology.leeds.ac.uk/home/skin/glands/
- University of Leeds, Hair and arrector pili: https://histology.leeds.ac.uk/home/skin/hair/
- National Cancer Institute, Skin layers: https://www.training.seer.cancer.gov/melanoma/anatomy/layers.html
- NIH Medical Arts, Skin cross-section: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/image-gallery/1056
- NIAMS, Learning about skin: https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/educational-resources/health-lesson-learning-about-skin

Original prototype code and generated geometry/textures follow the repository MIT license. The previous asset remains locally for reproducibility; its credits follow below.

## Historical base asset (inactive in the current viewer)

Base asset: Skin Block (Human Anatomy and Education Kit), by 3D Assets.
https://3dassets.dev/assets/human-anatomy-and-education-kit-skin-block-3ddb76c4
Downloaded 2026-09-29 from https://cdn.3dassets.dev/assets/38960/v1/model.glb
License: CC0 1.0 Universal — https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
The publisher reports AI-assisted creation. This is an educational schematic, not a medically validated scan.

SomaLens adaptations: retain and recolor the epidermal, dermal and fat layer geometry; adjust proportions for a magnified teaching view; omit the display stand, underlying muscle slab and unlabelled source decorations. Add original illustrative follicles, sebaceous and eccrine glands, vascular loops, sensory nerves, a lamellated receptor and connective fibres. Layer separation is an exploded illustration, not a physiological state. Depths and sizes are exaggerated for legibility.

Anatomical references (no images or text copied):
https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/educational-resources/health-lesson-learning-about-skin
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441980/

Skin proper consists of epidermis and dermis; the hypodermis is shown as the third underlying tissue layer. Epidermis is avascular. Sweat primarily regulates temperature, with minor excretion; it does not replace renal waste removal. Melanin provides partial UV protection.