Journal of Applied Physiology · 1988 · 270 citations · 0 references
MedicineAnatomyPhysiologyComputational Heat TransferHeat TransferHuman AnatomyHeat Transfer ModelingThermal PhysiologyThermal SimulationBlood FlowBody TemperatureHeat Transfer In TissuesMetabolic Heat GenerationMetabolic Heat ProductionPhotogrammetric ProcessingTemperature ProfilesThree-dimensional Anatomical Models
Temperature profiles in the human body depend on anatomical geometry and tissue inhomogeneity, with spatially distributed physical parameters such as density, conductivity, blood flow, and metabolic heat influencing the distribution. The model uses a 3‑cm‑resolution three‑dimensional grid derived from photogrammetric processing of anatomical body models. The simulation accurately reproduces neutral‑condition temperature topography, matching reality based only on physical principles and physiological data, and can extrapolate temperature profiles that are experimentally inaccessible.
Temperature profiles within the human body are highly dependent on the geometry and inhomogeneity of the body. Physical parameters such as density and heat conductivity of the various tissues and variables such as blood flow and metabolic heat production of different organs are spatially distributed and thereby influence the temperature profiles within the human body. Actual physiological knowledge allows one to take into account up to 54 different spatially distributed values for each parameter. An adequate representation of the anatomy of the body requires a spatial three-dimensional grid of at least 0.5-1.0 cm. This is achieved by photogrammetric treatment of three-dimensional anatomic models of the human body. As a first essential result, the simulation system has produced a realistic picture of the topography of temperatures under neutral conditions. Compatibility of reality and simulation was achieved solely on the basis of physical considerations and physiological data base. Therefore the simulation is suited to the extrapolation of temperature profiles that cannot be obtained experimentally.