title: Validation of the thermophysiological model by Fiala for prediction of local skin temperatures.
abstract: The most complete and realistic physiological data are derived from direct measurements during human experiments; however, they present some limitations such as ethical concerns, time and cost burden. Thermophysiological models are able to predict human thermal response in a wide range of environmental conditions, but their use is limited due to lack of validation. The aim of this work was to validate the thermophysiological model by Fiala for prediction of local skin temperatures against a dedicated database containing 43 different human experiments representing a wide range of conditions. The validation was conducted based on root-mean-square deviation (rmsd) and bias. The thermophysiological model by Fiala showed a good precision when predicting core and mean skin temperature (rmsd 0.26 and 0.92 °C, respectively) and also local skin temperatures for most body sites (average rmsd for local skin temperatures 1.32 °C). However, an increased deviation of the predictions was observed for the forehead skin temperature (rmsd of 1.63 °C) and for the thigh during exercising exposures (rmsd of 1.41 °C). Possible reasons for the observed deviations are lack of information on measurement circumstances (hair, head coverage interference) or an overestimation of the sweat evaporative cooling capacity for the head and thigh, respectively. This work has highlighted the importance of collecting details about the clothing worn and how and where the sensors were attached to the skin for achieving more precise results in the simulations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland.|Department of Applied Thermodynamics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera, s/n 46022, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Natividad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland. agnes.psikuta@empa.ch.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Psikuta
authors.affiliation: Thermal Environment Laboratory, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University, Sölvegatan 26, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kalev
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuklane
authors.affiliation: Biophysics and Medical Physics Group, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 15, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José Ignacio Priego
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Quesada
authors.affiliation: Biophysics and Medical Physics Group, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 15, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa María Cibrián Ortiz
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: de Anda
authors.affiliation: Research Group in Sports Biomechanics (GIBD), Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Valencia, Facultat de Ciències de l'Activitat Física i l'Esport, Gascó Oliag, 3, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro Pérez
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Soriano
authors.affiliation: Biophysics and Medical Physics Group, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 15, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosario Salvador
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Thermodynamics, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Camino de Vera, s/n 46022, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: José Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Corberán
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: René Michel
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Protection and Physiology, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, CH-9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Annaheim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature; D003020:Clothing; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013546:Sweating; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Skin temperature; Temperature sensors; Thermophysiological model; Thermophysiology