Development of a multi‐layered skin simulant for burn injury evaluation of protective fabrics exposed to low radiant heat

Abstract

Summary To simulate temperature rise of human skin and to predict burn injury during radiant heat exposure, the traditional method is to use a sensor to simulate skin surface and use a numerical model to simulate heat transfer in inner skin. However, the numerical models of skin burns are based on few experimental data of nude skin and some simplifications of human skin characteristics. In this study, a new multi‐layered skin simulant is presented for low radiant heat exposures up to 15 kW/m2. The skin simulant has implanted thermocouples into layered polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) materials with controlled thermal properties and thicknesses of the skin layers. The multi‐layered skin simulant developed in this study has a good reproducibility for temperature measurements with similar temperature rise profiles compared with human skin except at skin surface. For burn injury prediction, the results of our PDMS skin model can be linearly corrected using ASTM model as a reference. Our developed skin simulant provides an advanced method to directly simulate the heat transfer inside human skin in a multi‐layered structure rather than using the combined physical sensor‐numerical model in the traditional way.

An Anatomical Thermal 3D Model in Preclinical Research: Combining CT and Thermal Images

“…Besides the segmentation of skin and bones, analysis of organ segmentation [ 28 , 29 ] as well as an extraction of possible tumors [ 30 , 31 ] have to be implemented. This thermal model could be based on the Pennes bioheat equation in addition to existing models, such as 2D thermal skin models [ 32 , 33 ].…”

A Thermal Skin Model for Comparing Contact Skin Temperature Sensors and Assessing Measurement Errors

“…A feature that could contribute to overestimation of differences (vs. custom thermistors) when using the skin model is that the same silicone elastomer was used for both the skin model and to encapsulate the custom thermistors ( T sk sensors), based on this material having thermal properties that reasonably approximates human skin [ 32 , 42 ]. The method of production meant that the top surface of the skin model and the bottom surface of the custom thermistor were each flat and smooth, and, in combination with being the same material, the thermal contact resistance may have been disproportionally low for the custom thermistor on the skin model compared to the custom thermistors on the human skin or compared to the Grant thermistors or iButtons on the skin model.…”

“…A thermal skin model (outer dimensions 300 mm × 300 mm × 10 mm) was made using a dark gray silicone elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane; Sylgard 170; Dow Corning, Midland, MI, USA). Selected properties of this skin simulant were (reported in more detail by Zhai et al [ 32 ]): thermal conductivity ~0.23 W/(m∙K), thermal diffusivity ~12.8 × 10 −8 m 2 ·s −1 , emissivity ~0.9, and density ~1350 kg·m −3 , which compare quite well with human epidermis: 0.21–0.63 W/(m∙K), 4.9–14.6 × 10 −8 m 2 ·s −1 , 0.96–0.99, and ~1200 kg·m −3 for the same properties, respectively.…”

“…A thermal skin model (outer dimensions 300 mm × 300 mm × 10 mm) was made using a dark gray silicone elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane; Sylgard 170; Dow Corning, Midland, MI, USA). Selected properties of this skin simulant were (reported in more detail by Zhai et al [32]): thermal conductivity~0.23 W/(m•K), thermal diffusiv-ity~12.8 × 10 −8 m 2 •s −1 , emissivity~0.9, and density~1350 kg•m −3 , which compare quite well with human epidermis: 0.21-0.63 W/(m•K), 4.9-14.6 × 10 −8 m 2 •s −1 , 0.96-0.99, and 1200 kg•m −3 for the same properties, respectively. The silicone elastomer was prepared from the precursors (Sylgard 170A/170B) at a ratio of 1:1 by mass, mixed, then de-gassed in a vacuum chamber at ambient lab temperature; the mix was carefully poured into a mold and cured under ambient lab conditions (22.8 ± 0.6 • C, 63 ± 3% relative humidity; RH).…”

Development of a sweating thermal skin simulant for heat transfer evaluation of clothed human body under radiant heat hazard

“…Further, the model validation was performed with experimental data from living skin which includes the effect of blood and tissue fluid shifts but does not include the effect of active liquid sweating [25]. In a previous study, researchers developed a multilayered dry skin simulant with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to directly measure the temperatures at different skin depths [26].…”