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Validation of a Skin Calorimeter to Determine the Heat Capacity and the Thermal Resistance of the Skin

In vivo determination of the skin’s thermal properties is of growing interest. Several types of sensors are being designed and tested. In this field, we have developed a skin calorimeter for the determination of the heat flow, the heat capacity and the thermal resistance of the skin. The calorimeter...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rodríguez de Rivera, Pedro Jesús, Rodríguez de Rivera, Miriam, Socorro, Fabiola, Rodríguez de Rivera, Manuel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10181766/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37177596
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s23094391
Descripción
Sumario:In vivo determination of the skin’s thermal properties is of growing interest. Several types of sensors are being designed and tested. In this field, we have developed a skin calorimeter for the determination of the heat flow, the heat capacity and the thermal resistance of the skin. The calorimeter calibration consists of the determination of the parameters of the model we have chosen to represent the behavior of the device. This model considers the heat capacity and the thermal resistance of the skin, which depend on the case (body zone, subject, physical state, etc.) and also have a strong time dependence. Therefore, this work includes a validation study with reference materials. Finally, it is concluded that the heat capacity determined is a function of the thermal penetration depth of the measurement characteristics. In the case of high thermal conductivity materials in which the thermal penetration is nearly total, the heat capacity obtained coincides with that of the reference material sample.