A 7-segment numerical hand-glove/mitten model for predicting thermophysiological responses of the human hand in extremely cold conditions

Abstract

A 7-segment and 29-node numerical hand-glove/mitten model was developed to simulate human hand physiological responses in various cold environments. To validate the model, simulated skin temperatures were compared to data from published literature and human trials conducted at −20, −40, and −60 °C. Results demonstrated that the model could reasonably predict cold-induced vasodilation (CIVD) responses at 0 °C temperature. At −20 °C, the model predicted skin temperature with the root mean square deviation (RMSD) falling within the measurement standard deviation (SD) for both the entire and local hand except for the posterior hand. At −40 and −60 °C, the model could predict the trend of the skin temperatures of the whole/local hand, but the RMSD was larger than the SD for the majority of predictions. A parametric analysis revealed that the palm and posterior hand had higher skin temperatures than the fingers, while the thumb had the lowest skin temperature of the fingers in all simulated cases except the case with a 3.5 clo mitten at −60 °C. The proposed numerical hand-glove/mitten model could reasonably predict local hand physiological responses in three extremely cold environments and provides fundamental knowledge for cold stress prediction and protective glove development, thereby improving the safety and health of industrial workers, firefighters, first responders, and troops.