Numerical Analysis of Temperature Distribution in A 3-D MR Image-Based Human Finger Model under Severe Cold Conditions

Frostbite is severest form of cold injury that can have serious consequences on limbs such as digits, ears, cheek and nose which are far from the heart. Therefore, in this article, it has been tried to simulate the temperature distribution and find the starting time of frostbite in a human finger as a member that is sensitive to cold stress with a realistic approach. In this research, anatomical data has been extracted from MR images which approximate bone, soft tissues and vessels volume independently. The approach that is presented for converting the MR images to a 3-D finite element model is one of the novelties of this research. A coupled thermo-fluid model is applied to simulate a finger exposed to cold weather. The effect of heat conduction, metabolic heat generation, heat transport by blood perfusion, heat exchange between tissues and large vessels are considered in energy balance equations. Environmental situations such as ambient temperature and wind speed and also glove thermal resistance have been investigated and compared to each other.