title: Relationship between core temperature, skin temperature, and heat flux during exercise in heat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper investigates the relationship between core temperature (T c), skin temperature (T s) and heat flux (HF) during exercise in hot conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine test volunteers, wearing an Army Combat Uniform and body armor, participated in three sessions at 25 °C/50 % relative humidity (RH); 35 °C/70 % RH; and 42 °C/20 % RH. Each session consisted of two 1-h treadmill walks at ~350 W and ~540 W intensity. T s and HF from six sites on the forehead, sternum, pectoralis, left rib cage, left scapula, and left thigh, and T c (i.e., core temperature pill used as a suppository) were measured. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to derive algorithms that estimate T c from T s and HF at each site. A simple model was developed to simulate influences of thermal conductivity and thickness of the local body tissues on the relationship between T c, T s, and HF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Coefficient of determination (R (2)) ranged from 0.30 to 0.88, varying with locations and conditions. Good sites for T c measurement at surface were the sternum, and a combination of the sternum, scapula, and rib sites. The combination of T s and HF measured at the sternum explained ~75 % or more of variance in observed T c in hot environments. The forehead was found unsuitable for exercise in heat due to sweating and evaporative heat loss. The derived algorithms are likely applicable only for the same ensemble or ensembles with similar thermal and vapor resistances.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Algorithms for T c measurement are location-specific and their accuracy is dependent, to a large degree, on sensor placement.
authors.affiliation: Biophysics and Biomedical Modeling Division, US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, 42 Kansas Street, Natick, MA 01760-5007, USA. xiaojiang.xu@us.army.mil
authors.forename: Xiaojiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Karis
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Buller
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Santee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D012881:Skin Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D013546:Sweating / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult