Human skin thermal properties determination using a calorimetric sensor

Abstract

The purpose of the calorimetric sensor developed is to measure the heat flux transmitted by conduction between the human body surface and a thermostat located inside the sensor. The measurement surface has an area of 2 x 2 cm(2). We have verified that the measured heat flux decreases linearly with the increase in the thermostat temperature. This allows us to define an equivalent thermal resistance between the internal temperature of the human body and the temperature of the thermostat. This equivalent thermal resistance can be determined by measuring the heat flux for different constant temperatures of the thermostat. An alternative is to perform a single measurement with linear programming of the thermostat temperature. With this type of measurement and from the calorimetric signal, it is also possible to determine an equivalent heat capacity of the skin in the measurement zone. In this article, we present the modelling and simulation of the sensor operation when the thermostat temperature varies linearly. We also present experimental measurements performed on the human body and with reference Joule dissipations.