Calibration and operation improvements of a calorimetric sensor for medical applications

Abstract

This paper presents a study to improve the calibration process of a calorimetric sensor for medical application. The sensor has been designed for determination of the heat loss, heat capacity and equivalent thermal resistance of the skin region on which the sensor is applied. Localized constants models have been found to be effective. For a good calibration of the sensor, suitable experiments have been designed, allowing us to determine the thermal quantities with acceptable accuracy. In addition, we propose a new method of operation, which does not require the initial placement of the sensor on the calibration base: the whole measurement is performed with the sensor applied on the skin. The operation and calculation methods were validated by simulations that aim to reproduce the human skin measurement. Finally, an application in the human body is presented, consisting of measuring the heat capacity and equivalent thermal resistance of the wrist.