Prediction computer program for whole body temperatures and its application under various working level and thermal...

Area of Science:

• Human physiology
• Computational modeling
• Thermal regulation

Background:

• Accurate simulation of human thermal physiology is crucial for understanding responses to environmental conditions and physical activity.
• Existing models often lack the precision to account for individual physical variations and localized heat production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe improvements to a computer program for the numerical analysis of human thermal conditions.
• To enhance the program's capability to simulate individual physical differences and local muscle heat production.
• To validate the improved program's accuracy in predicting whole-body temperatures during exercise.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multi-layered concentric cylindrical model representing human body segments.
• Implementation of a novel numerical solution method for thermal analysis.
• Inclusion of subroutines for calculating thermoregulatory responses and assigning individual physical characteristics.

Main Results:

• The improved computer program can simultaneously calculate internal tissue temperatures, heat fluxes, and blood temperatures for all body segments.
• Simulations of whole-body temperatures during exercise, incorporating individual differences and local muscle heat production, closely matched measured data.
• The program demonstrated agreement with experimental results under various exercise intensities and environmental conditions.

Conclusions:

• The enhanced computer program provides a precise tool for evaluating human thermal physiological responses.
• The model's ability to simulate individual variations and thermoregulation improves its applicability to diverse working conditions and exercise scenarios.
• This validated computational model serves as a valuable resource for research in human thermoregulation and occupational physiology.