Finite element analysis and experimental verification of multilayered tissue characterization using the thermal technique

The objective of this research is to develop noninvasive techniques to determine thermal properties of layered biologic structures based on measurements from the surface. The self-heated thermistor technique is evaluated both numerically and experimentally. The finite element analyses, which confirm the experimental results, are used to study the temperature profiles occurring in the thermistor-tissue system. An in vitro tissue model was constructed by placing Teflon of varying thickness between the biologic tissue and the self-heated thermistor. The experiments were performed using two different-sized thermistors on six tissue samples. A self-heated thermistor was used to determine the thermal conductivity of tissue covered by a thin layer Teflon. The results from experimental data clearly indicate that this technique can penetrate below the thin layers of Teflon and thus is sensitive to the thermal properties of the underlying tissue. The factors which may introduce error in the experimental data are (i) poor thermal/physical contact between the thermistor probe and tissue sample, and (ii) water loss from tissue during the course of experimentation. The finite element analysis was used to simulate the experimental conditions and to calculate transient temperature profile generated by the thermistor bead. The results of finite element analysis are in accordance with the experimental data