A study on the temperature profile and thermal damage in human skin tissue

Temperature distribution in human dermal tissues and possible burns according to a local heating on skin are numerically analyzed in this study. In order to obtain temperature profiles in the dermis, fat and muscle layers, the Pennes bio-heat equation is solved in which the source term for heat exchange between the blood and tissues is formulated. The degree of burns is predicted by the damage function which uses Arrhenius formulation. Two types of boundary conditions, the constant heat flux and constant temperature condition are considered as heating methods. Skin temperature regulation by repetition of the heat flux on and off is also considered as a boundary condition. Tissue temperature increases with time when constant heat flux is given on the skin. Constant temperature heating up to 320 K for 10 minutes do not cause burn injury. The results show that burns can be avoided by controlling skin temperature under 320 K. The results also show that using high heat flux with short heating time is safer than using lower heat flux with longer heating.