Numerical Analysis of the Pennes Bioheat Transfer Equation on Skin Surface

Abstract

By studying on the well-known Pennes bioheat transfer equation is performed to investigate the heat transfer behaviors in a triple-layered skin structure, which is stratified into epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous layers. This paper proposes a modified numerical scheme which is combined with the differential transform and finite difference methods to analyze the problem with the constant temperature surface heating and constant surface heat flux. The influences of the variations such as the perfusion rate of blood, the heating time, and the type of heat flux, upon thermal behavior are discussed. From the results, the type of heat flux would not affect the time to reach temperature distribution. The blood perfusion rate has a cooling effect to adjust the tissue temperature. The results are useful in a variety of clinical hyperthermia and biological thermal parameter measurement.