Real-time measurement method for the skin temperature of the human arm via large lateral shearing interferometry

This paper presents a real-time measurement method for the skin temperature of the human arm. In this method, the air temperature close to the arm skin is measured via large lateral shearing interferometry, thus avoiding the possible influences of the different physical characteristics of different people, while maintaining the advantages of optical measurement, including its noncontact, noninvasive, and rapid features. The method captures the real-time fringe patterns generated using a parallel-sided plate when a collimated laser light beam transfers through the air surrounding the arm to be measured. Additionally, the phase difference distribution caused by the temperature difference is calculated in combination with the background fringe patterns. The phase difference in the light close to the arm skin is then estimated via a linear fitting method. Accordingly, based on the size parameters of the arm cross section and the ambient temperature monitored in real time, the air temperature close to the arm skin, which is considered equal to the arm skin temperature, is determined while considering the heat conduction effect. Experimental measurements of the temperature of human arm skin were conducted using the proposed method, and the axillary temperatures of the same person before and after the experiments were also measured using an electronic thermometer and a mercury thermometer. Good agreements were found, verifying the reliability of the proposed method. Moreover, based on this method, the possibility for the construction of a real-time body temperature measurement system is also discussed.