The Numerical Thermal Simulation of the Human Body When Undergoing Exercise or Nonionizing Electromagnetic Irradiation

The human body was modeled by a finite difference numerical procedure to determine the effect of simulating the sweating rate by different analytical models. Six different models were used in which the hypothalamus, muscle, average skin, and local skin temperatures were used as the controlling parameters for the rate of local sweating. These different models were tested by comparing their predictions of local temperatures for an exercising man with measured values. The computer program was then used to compute the thermal response of a man subjected to microwave irradiation of the entire body and the head only. Transient head and body temperatures and sweating rates were computed and compared with the temperature changes due to an equivalent exercise level. Significant differences in the results found by using the different sweat models point out the need for further work in determining accurate analytical descriptions of this major mode of body heat loss.