Prediction of Temperature Field and Thermal Damage of Multilayer Skin Tissues Subjected to Time-Varying Laser Heating and Fluid Cooling by a Semianalytical Method

Abstract

A semianalytical method based on the separation of variables is presented to solve the problem of heat transfer in multilayer skin tissues. This method is used to predict the temperature field and thermal damage of skin tissues, which are subjected to the time-varying laser heating and fluid cooling. The effect of convective heat transfer coefficient of the skin surface on temperature field and thermal damage is studied. The temperature field and thermal damage of skin tissue with different laser heating cycles are calculated. The relationship between the laser heating period and the temperature fluctuation is obtained. The effects of the peak time of laser heating on temperature and the thermal damage of skin tissues are investigated. The relationship between the peak time of laser and the temperature fluctuation of skin tissue is drawn. The results calculated in this paper can provide some guidance for hyperthermia of skin tissue. The presented semianalytical method can be applied to solve the general heat transfer problems of multilayer structures.