Advanced approaches for quantitative characterization of thermal transport properties in soft materials using thin, conformable resistive sensors
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Noninvasive methods for precise characterization of the thermal properties of soft biological tissues such as the skin can yield vital details about physiological health status including at critical intervals during recovery following skin injury. Here, we introduce quantitative measurement and characterization methods that allow rapid, accurate determination of the thermal conductivity of soft materials using thin, skin-like resistive sensor platforms. Systematic evaluations of skin at eight different locations and of six different synthetic skin-mimicking materials across sensor sizes, measurement times, and surface geometries (planar, highly curvilinear) validate simple scaling laws for data interpretation and parameter extraction. As an example of the possibilities, changes in the thermal properties of skin (volar forearm) can be monitored during recovery from exposure to ultraviolet radiation (sunburn) and to stressors associated with localized heating and cooling. More generally, the results described here facilitate rapid, non-invasive thermal measurements on broad classes of biological and non-biological soft materials.
Source: Extreme Mechanics Letters
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,940
Funders: National Science Foundation, Northwestern University, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Institutes of Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
OpenAlex ID: W2799509142