Measurements of the Thermal Conductivity of the Skin as an Indication of Skin Blood Flow*

Frontal Dynamic Thermometry

“…There is only a slight resemblance with the method of measuring thermal conductivity described by Vandestaak et al (1968) or the tlrermodes by Gautherie (1967).…”

Laser Surgery

“…Scattering is assumed to be only elastic. It is also possible to describe light transport in a regime where multiple scattering dominates using Maxwell's electromagnetic theory (van de Hulst, 1980). It has been noted, however, that solutions to multiple scattering theory will be highly complex (Wilson and Jacques, 1990) and therefore not altogether practical for the clinical applications.…”

Estimation of the nutrient skin blood flow using a segmented thermal clearance probe

“…Segmentation is necessary because it permits direct electrical connection ofthe thermocouple junctions between disc and armulus, which reduces the time to reach thermal equilibrium on the surface of the skin. hence its lag period is significantly reduced compared with the non-segmented type described by Van De Staak et al (1968) which we constructed and tested itiitially. In our segmented probes the copper constantan thermocouples are soldered, in series, to neighbouring pairs of disc and annulus segments.…”

“…Preliminary investigations are necessary to determine that the device is working satisfactorily. If the device is applied to any thermally conductive medium, the following equation can be used (see Sheard, 1944, Van De Staak et al, 1968:…”

“…Our thermal clearance method is based on earlier instruments described by Gibbs (1933) 3iid by Grayson (1952), with the atraumatic modifications introduced by Hensel and Bender (1956) and Van De Staak et al (1968). This method assesses the rate of removal of heat from a heated area at the centre of the probe by the skin's nutrient bloodflow.…”