Design of constant temperature cooling device for melanoma screening by dynamic thermography

• Published in: Engineering analysis with boundary elements 2021-04, Vol.125, p.66-79
• Main Authors: Gomboc, T., Iljaž, J., Wrobel, L.C., Hriberšek, M., Marn, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bio-heat; Constant temperature; Dynamic thermography; Numerical design; Peltier module; Thermoelectric cooling
• ISSN: 0955-7997; 1873-197X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enganabound.2021.01.009

•Constant temperature cooling device for skin tumour screening by dynamic thermography, to achieve thick penetration and high temperature resolution.•Constant cooling device composed from metal disc and Peltier module to achieve active cooling.•Investigation of temperature measurement position, disc thickness, regulation coefficient and lesion size on achieved cooling temperature of the skin.•Analysis id the cooling device is made based on the more realistic skin tissue model using thermoregulation response to the cooling process, which affects the blood perfusion of skin and tumour.•The most important device parameter is disc thickness and regulation coefficient to achieve preset cooling temperature and homogeneity of the cooling skin area. Dynamic thermography is a promising new non-invasive diagnostic technique for melanoma screening. This paper proposes a novel experimental setup of an active cooling device for dynamic thermography using a metal disc and a Peltier module. The aim is to achieve constant cooling temperature that induce deep cooling penetration and, therefore, better thermal contrast. The paper covers the numerical analysis of the device design parameters like thermocouple position, disc thickness and regulation coefficient prior to building it. Simulation is based on a numerical model of skin tissue with melanoma and the metal disc. The Peltier module has been modeled indirectly through a boundary condition simulating the device active cooling. For effective solving of the direct problem, the BEM has been used. Results showed that the thermocouple position for cooling regulation is not as important as the value of the regulation coefficient or disc thickness. A thicker disc improves the initial cooling due to higher thermal capacity. However, a thinner disc is recommended due to the faster regulation and more constant cooling temperature. Results also showed that lesion size did not affect the cooling temperature, meaning that it can be used for investigation in any tumour stage.