title: A shower spray facility for accurate control and rapid changes of skin temperature.
abstract: A shower spray facility (SSF) was built to closely clamp the skin temperature of human subjects, while retaining capability for controlled rapid changes. The subject is enclosed from the neck down in a small chamber containing three water spray manifolds which terminate in 64 small shower heads; the manifolds provide independent temperature control of left leg, right leg, and arm/torso. A dual, solenoid-switched plumbing system for each manifold allows rapid, preset temperature changes. Preliminary tests showed that single thermocouples can accurately indicate average skin temperature for each of the three controlled body areas. Initial experiments with spikes, step functions, and periodic wave forms have proven the SSF as a potentially powerful tool for studying mechanisms of human thermoregulation.
mesh_terms: D004780:Environment, Controlled; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D012881:Skin Temperature; D013821:Thermometers / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water