Using a microdermabrasion machine as a suction blister device.

The study was conducted on ten volunteers. All of them developed blackish adherent material at the edges of the tape-covered areas after 48 hours. The glue used in micropore tape is made up of ultraviolet (UV)-cured acrylate polymers. [1] The tapes are non-expansible and the glue tends to move towards the periphery, and possibly beyond the margins of the tape due to stretching of the skin. The dirt-like material which is formed, gets deposited along the edges because of the adhesive property of glue. We initially thought that this blackish material is predominantly due to sebum and keratin but a similar material was observed following the removal of the tape from a window pane, suggesting that the predominant material may be dirt. As the material did not dissolve in KOH, keratin may not be the major constituent. However, it is possible that keratin and sebum are present in this blackish material formed around the edges around tapecovered areas in humans in addition to dirt.