Modelling and simulation of the operation of a calorimetric sensor for medical application

Abstract

A calorimetric sensor for medical application has been developed to measure surface and localize heat dissipations of human body. The instrument evaluates the heat fux transmitted by conduction, through a thermopile, between the human body surface and a programmed thermostat at a set temperature. In this work, a model with twelve transfer functions describing the operation of the sensor is exposed. This model relates the inputs to outputs of the system. Sensitivities, poles and zeros of each of the transfer functions are obtained with two independent experimental measurements and a numerical optimization method based on the adjustment of the experimental output curves with the ones calculated by the model. The model simulates the operation of the sensor, determines its operating limits and assesses the fow of heat between human skin and the thermostat sensor. The proposed method is applicable to any non-diferential calorimeter.