Topic 9: Methods Relating to the Study of Environmental Physiology

Supplemental Materials

HPHE 6720 Dr. Cheatham

Outline
Introduction

Measuring temperature
Core and skin

Measuring metabolic rate

and heat production Calculating tissue insulation Measuring skin blood flow Measuring sweat rate

Introduction
Environmental and Core Temperatures

Introduction
Heat Balance Equation

S M CV Cd R - E

What variables are we interested in

Temperature
Different ways/devices to measure temperature Measurement of core temperature
Rectal, esophageal, tympanic, oral

Measurement of skin temperatures

Metabolic Rate / Heat Production

Indirect Calorimetry

Tissue Insulation
Combination of temperature and heat production responses

Skin Blood Flow

Laser Doppler Flowmetry

Sweat Rate
Whole body changes Hygrometry

Techniques / Devices to Measure Temperature Thermocouples

Description:
A thermocouple is a sensor for measuring temperature. It consists of two dissimilar metals, joined together at one end. When the junction of the two metals is heated or cooled a voltage is produced that can be correlated back to the temperature. The thermocouple alloys are commonly available as wire.

Type of Thermocouples:
There are different types of thermocouples. The metals/alloys are different for different types and provide different temperature ranges.

Techniques / Devices to Measure Temperature

Thermocouples (contd)

Techniques / Devices to Measure Temperature Thermistors

Description:
A thermistor is a temperature-sensing element composed of sintered semiconductor material which exhibits a large change in resistance proportional to a small change in temperature. Thermistors usually have negative temperature coefficients which means the resistance of the thermistor decreases as the temperature increases. A small current is applied to the thermistor and the change in resistance is related to the temperature being monitored. Thermistors are one of the most accurate types of temperature sensors.
Thermistors have an accuracy of 0.1C or 0.2C depending on the particular thermistor model. However thermistors are fairly limited in their temperature range, working only over a nominal range of 0C to 100C .

Measurement of Core Temperature

Core Temperature is the temperature inside the body Sites of Measurement:
Rectal Temperature (TRE)
Relatively comfortable, non-invasive. Temperature probe inserted between 5 and 13 cm past than anal sphincter. Relatively slow responding to internal temperature changes.

Esophageal Temperature (TES)

Temperature probe is inserted through the nasal passage and into the throat and then swallowed. Probe is then fed to approximately the level of the right atrium (1/4 of subjects standing height). Very responsive to internal temperature changes and approximates the temperature of mixed venous blood.

Tympanic Temperature (TTY)

Temperature probe is placed against the tympanic membrane. Representative of hypothalamic temperature.

Oral Temperature (TOR)

Measurement of Core Temperature

Measurement of Skin Temperatures

Skin temperature are monitored for the following reasons: Calculating the mean body temperature for heat storage determinations Calculating sensible (radiative and convective) heat exchange and skin conductance Integrating into an index of the skin temperature input to the thermoregulatory controller Usually, skin temperature is monitored at several sites and then the different sites are weighted to get an average skin temperature. Temperature probes are attached to the surface of the skin usually at sites that cover muscle areas that will influence body temperature most greatly.

Measurement of Skin Temperatures

Skin Temperature Equations:
Mean TSK (C) = 0.35 * TCHEST + 0.19 * TTHIGH + 0.14 * TARM + 0.13 * TLEG + 0.07 * THEAD + 0.07 * TFOOT + 0.05 * THAND
Hardy, J.D. and E.F. Dubois. Journal of Nutrition. 15: 461, 1938.

Mean TSK (C) = (0.3 * TCHEST) + (0.3 * TARM) + (0.2 * TTHIGH) + (0.2 * TLEG)
OR

Mean TSK (C) = (0.3 * (TCHEST + TARM)) + (0.2 * (TTHIGH + TLEG))

Ramanathan, N.L. A new weighting system for mean surface temperature of the human body. Journal of Applied Physiology. 19(3): 531-533, 1964.

Measurement of Skin Temperatures

Measurement of Metabolic Rate / Heat Production Expresses the heat produced by the body during any condition Requires collection of respiratory gases (i.e. VO2 and VCO2) Metabolism can be expressed as:
VO2 (ml/min or ml/kg) Calories (kcal) Kilojoules or Watts

Calculations:
kcal = (3.9 * LO2 used) + (1.1 * LCO2 produced) Watts = 60 * 1.163 * ((3.9 * LO2 used) + (1.1 * LCO2 produced))

Measurement of Tissue Insulation

Terminology:
Tissue conductance
The tendency to lose body heat to the environment

Tissue insulation
The ability to resist loss of body heat The reciprocal of conductance

Brief physiology of Insulation

What provides insulation?
Skin, subcutaneous fat, muscle

What does shivering due to conductance and insulation?

Decreases insulation Increases conductance

Why?
Muscle layer lost as insulative layer

Measurement of Tissue Insulation

How do we measure or calculate insulation?
Need to know
Skin temps Core temperature Heat flow or metabolic rate BSA and Bodyweight
Veicsteinas, A., G. Ferretti, and D.W. Rennie. Superficial shell insulation in resting and exercising men in cold water. Journal of Applied Physiology. 52: 1557-1564, 1982.

Measurement of Tissue Insulation

Calculation:
I = ((TCO TSK) * AD) / ((0.92 * HP) + ( TCO) * 0.965 * 0.6 * Wt))

TCO = Core temp (Final (or given) time point) TSK = Skin temp (Final (or given) time point) AD = Body Surface Area HP = Metabolism / Heat production (W) TCO = Change in TCO (Final (or given) Initial) Wt = Bodyweight (kg)

Toner, M.M., M.N. Sawka, M.E. Foley, and K.B. Pandolf. Effects of body mass and morphology on thermal responses in water. Journal of Applied Physiology. 60(2): 521-525, 1986.

Measurement of Skin Blood Flow

Why is the measurement of skin blood flow important?
The skin is the interface between the body and the environment. So, blood flow to the skin is a major determinant of how much heat from the body is lost to the environment.

Response in SBF due to the environment:

Heat exposure:
Vasodilation. Increase heat loss to environment. Increase blood flow for sweat response.

Cold exposure:
Vasoconstriction. Decrease heat loss to the environment.

How is it measured?
Plethysmography Laser Doppler Flowmetry

Measurement of Skin Blood Flow

Laser Doppler Flowmetry
Introduction:
Laser Doppler is a standard technique for the non-invasive blood flow monitoring and measurement of blood flow in the microcirculation. The strength of the technique is in looking at changes in flow - either over time or differences in flow over an area of skin or other exposed tissue. For example you might compare flow in normal tissue with flow in a burnt area of tissue. You might also use a provocation (stimulus) to change flow. This could be skin heating, drug delivery by iontophoresis, pressure cuffs etc.

Measurement of Skin Blood Flow

Laser Doppler Flowmetry
Operating Principle: The laser Doppler technique measures blood flow in the very small blood vessels of the microvasculature, such as the lowspeed flows associated with nutritional blood flow in capillaries close to the skin surface and flow in the underlying arterioles and venules involved in regulation of skin temperature. The technique depends on the Doppler principle whereby low power light from a monochromatic stable laser is scattered by moving red blood cells and as a consequence is frequency broadened. The frequency broadened light, together with laser light scattered from static tissue, is photo-detected and the resulting photocurrent processed to provide a blood flow measurement.

Measurement of Skin Blood Flow

Measurement of Sweat Rate

Why is sweat rate an important variable to measure?
Clinical application:
Autonomic Dysfunction

Environmental or exercise application:

Sweating is one of the main mechanisms by which the body loses heat, especially during exercise is a warm or hot environment. Fluid losses from sweat can also affect the fluid balance of the body (dehydration, heat stress, heat exhaustion, heat stroke).

How is sweat rate determined?

Whole-body mass changes:
Any body weight change as a result of acute exercise is mostly due to fluid losses. Therefore, measurements of body weight changes from exercise can be used to estimate whole body fluid losses (sweat rate)

Hygrometry
The release of moisture (i.e. sweat) from a site on the skin is used to measure a localized sweat rate.

Measurement of Sweat Rate

Whole-Body Mass Changes:

Measurement of Sweat Rate

Hygrometry (Q-Sweat System)
Trans Epidermal Water Loss (TEWL)
The Q-Sweat uses room air that is drawn across a desiccant to pick up any moisture (water) that is found in the sweat emitted from the skin. The moisture given off by the skin is captured inside a capsule, where it is transported by airflow to temperature and humidity measuring sensors. There, an accurate measure of the amount of moisture found within the moving air sample is made.

Laboratory Demonstration
15 minutes Baseline (25C, 77F) 60 minutes Cold Air Exposure (5C, 41F) Variables
Core Temperature (Rectal Temperature) Skin Temperature (TSK)
Chest, Tricep, Thigh, Calf Mean TSK

Metabolic Rate / Heat Production Skin Blood Flow (SBF)

Finger (SBFFIN) Forearm (SBFFA) Expressed as a percentage change from Baseline