Research & Development

At Loretta, research is at the heart of everything we do. Our technologies, directly derived from experimental research at the prestigious Technical University of Denmark (DTU), are constantly evolving to deliver the fastest, most precise, and most versatile service to our clients.

Our passionate research team dedicates its expertise to the development of our AI and our microscope, extracting ever more parameters with ever greater efficiency

The MIDAS Lab at DTU

Meet our team

Academic Investment

Since the early development of the Atomic Force Microscope in 2016, numerous institutions have supported this groundbreaking technology by funding or collaborating with the MIDAS lab and its research director, Associate Professor Edwin Hwu.

Loretta Technologies

Thanks to our world-unique technologies, we can offer ultrafast and ultra-precise skin nanotexture analysis. Discover the innovations behind our service.

The HS-DAFM

The High-Speed Dermal Atomic Force Microscope relies on ultra-short silicon cantilevers (~7 µm) with low spring constants (0.1–0.2 N/m) and high resonance frequencies (500 kHz to 2 MHz).

Combined with a fast piezoelectric scanner and an optimized closed-loop controller, it generates topographic images in under 10 seconds, with <1 nm lateral and 0.1 nm vertical resolution.

This technology allows for fine visualization of the skin — without artifacts or damage — to study roughness, deposits, microrelief, or the effects of cosmetic treatments.

You Only Look Once AI

YOLOv10 is a real-time object detection algorithm optimized for speed and accuracy. Integrated into corneocyte nanotexture analysis, it reliably identifies circular nanometric structures (CNOs) even under noisy or occluded conditions.

Trained on over 74,000 annotations and enhanced with techniques such as non-max suppression-free filtering and large-kernel convolutions, YOLOv10-L reaches a precision (AP50) of 91.4%, with inference times under 10 ms on GPU.

Learn more about the DAFM

Learn more about the AI

Our Research Projects

The Loretta team is committed to continuously advancing our technologies through numerous internal research projects: in-depth analysis of different body areas, testing experimental actives, comparisons with other testing methods, development of a hair database… and many more projects that remain confidential for now.

In line with our mission of inclusivity and accessibility in skin analysis services, we are committed to studying diverse skin: every skin tone, every age, tattooed or not.

If you’d like to contribute with your own research projects — in cosmetics, dermatology, or any other field — feel free to contact our experts.

Contact us

Our articles

Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Chia-Yu Chu

Dermatologist, Taiwan

Dr. Chia-Yu Chu is a Professor of Dermatology at the National Taiwan University College of Medicine and President of the Taiwan Dermatological Association (TDA). A leading expert in immunology and allergology, he has published extensively on atopic dermatitis, drug eruptions, autoimmune blistering diseases, and urticaria, with over 190 articles and 14 book chapters to his name.

Dr. Jacob Thyssen

Dermatologist, Denmark

Dr. Jacob Thyssen is Chief Scientific Officer at LEO Pharma, where he leads innovation strategies to meet unmet needs in dermatology and develop groundbreaking treatments for skin diseases. A former professor at the University of Denmark with over 20 years of clinical experience and more than 700 peer-reviewed publications, he combines scientific expertise, business acumen, and a deep passion for improving patient care.

Dr. Sanja Kezic

Dermatologist, Netherlands

Dr. Sanja Kezic is a senior principal investigator at the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam. With a strong background in toxicology and dermatotoxicology, she brings both research and project management skills to advance innovations in skin health and occupational safety.

Prof. Edwin En-Te-Hwu

Professor Edwin En-Te Hwu, CSO at Loretta, is a pioneer in scientific miniaturization, known for transforming consumer electronics into high-end research instruments.

An Associate Professor at DTU Health Tech, he leads the MIDAS group, where his unconventional approach — combining nanotechnology and hardware hacking — has led to significant breakthroughs in nanometrology and biosensing, including the development of Loretta’s DAFM.

With over 1,300 citations and an h-index of 21, his work reflects a deep commitment to accessible and innovative science.

Jen-Hung Wang, PhD

Jen-Hung Wang, CTO at Loretta, is a PhD-level research engineer specializing in computer vision and biomedical engineering applied to dermatology.Holding a Master’s degree in Mechatronics and Robotics from the Technical University of Munich, he has developed deep expertise in image processing and deep learning.

His flagship project, the Effective Corneocyte Topographical Index, integrates the YOLOv10 algorithm to detect nanometric skin structures. At Loretta, he combines AI, biomedical imaging, and software engineering to help keep the company at the cutting edge of digital dermatology.

The Research Team

Loretta’s Chief Scientific and Technology Officers lead the development of our hardware and software, originally designed as medical dermatological tools at the Technical University of Denmark.

Today, we bring this innovation to the cosmetic world, while continuing development in skin health research.

Do You Have a Research Project?

Whether you’re part of a university research group or an R&D department in a private company, we invite you to meet with our experts to explore partnership opportunities with Loretta. Our team is at your service for any experimental needs related to cellular nanotexture analysis.