G110 In Vivo Measurement of Thermal Conductivity and Thermal Diffusivity of Biological Tissues

A non-contact method was used to measure the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of biological tissues. The method is based on the fact that the time variation of the heated surface temperature depends mainly on the thermal properties of the material when its surface is heated locally. A CO_2 laser and an infrared thermometer were used for heating and surface temperature measurements. The measured temperature variation was compared with that obtained numerically in advance, then the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity were evaluated simultaneously. Uncertainty analysis showed that the present method could measure the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of biological tissues within uncertainties of 5 and 10 %, respectively.