Temperature Transients: A Model for Heat Diffusion through the Skin, Thermoreceptor Response and Thermal Sensation

Abstract

A model based on heat diffusion through the skin is developed for the dynamic response of cutaneous thennoreceptors w temperature stimuli at the skin surjiace. It is applied w various neurophyswlogical exper'ments with good results. The model is then extended w sensation and a set of psychophysical experiments on human sub jects is examined and compared with the model predic- tions. A h g e t h q in terms of both the neurophysiological response and the sensation response, this model gives good agreement zoith the experiments.

A new simplified thermoregulatory bioheat model for evaluating thermal response of the human body to transient environments

“…The static part of the thermoreceptor response depends upon temperature of thermoreceptors. Also, the dynamic part of the thermoreceptor response is proportionally related to temperature change rates at the depth of the thermoreceptors, dT/dt, with positive coefficients for warm receptors and negative coefficients for cold receptors [25,29,31]. On the basis of these findings, Ring and de Dear [25] developed a simple model of thermoreceptor impulse frequency and they described the response of the cold and warm receptors as follows:…”

“…In 1991, Ring and de Dear [25] developed a new human thermal response model on the basis of Hensel [26] findings about the transient response of cutaneous thermoreceptors. Hensel [26] identified that the thermoreceptor response should have a static part and a dynamic part.…”

“…About 20 years ago, Ring and de Dear [25] developed a new human thermal response model on the basis of Hensel [26] studies. They assumed that the thermal response of cutaneous thermoreceptors is influenced by the temperature of cutaneous thermoreceptors and its time derivative.…”

A model of human physiology and comfort for assessing complex thermal environments

“…We are considering including the detailed skin thermoreceptor model proposed by Ring and de Dear [29] and more detailed blood ow model for the whole limb proposed by Song et al [30].…”

Thermal sensation and comfort models for non-uniform and transient environments: Part I: Local sensation of individual body parts

“…It treats the body as a whole, in terms of physiological averages and sensations, and cannot predict transient responses. More advanced models developed in recent years [7][8][9][10][11][12] can predict transient behavior, and also calculate physiological responses for multiple (six to twenty) body parts. However, they can only predict sensation at the whole-body level, and therefore have limited value for evaluating non-uniform environments.…”