Journal of Physics: Conference Series

PAPER • OPEN ACCESS Related content

- Application of infrared camera to
The use of infrared thermography to detect the bituminous concrete pavements:
measuring vehicle
skin temperature response to physical activity Michal Jank and Josef Stryk

- Abnormal thermal hyperaemia in the skin

in paraplegia
To cite this article: G Tanda 2015 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 655 012062 J C Barbenel and Z F Cui

- An automated non-contact wall

temperature measurement using
thermoreflectance
Timothy A Shedd and Benjamin W
View the article online for updates and enhancements. Anderson

Recent citations
- A Study of Thermistor Performance within
a Textile Structure
Theodore Hughes-Riley et al

This content was downloaded from IP address [Link] on 26/12/2017 at 02:34

33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

The use of infrared thermography to detect the skin

temperature response to physical activity

G Tanda1
DIME, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova, Italy

E-mail: [Link]@[Link]

Abstract. Physical activity has a noticeable effect on skin blood flow and temperature. The
thermal regulatory and hemodynamic processes during physical activity are controlled by two
conflicting mechanisms: the skin vasoconstriction induced by the blood flow demand to active
muscles and the skin vasodilation required by thermoregulation to increase warm blood flow
and heat conduction to the skin. The time-evolution of skin temperature during exercise can
give useful information about the adaptation of the subject as a function of specific type,
intensity and duration of exercise. In this paper, infrared thermography is used to investigate
the thermal response of skin temperature during running exercise on treadmill for a group of
seven healthy and trained runners. Two different treadmill exercises are considered: a graded
load exercise and a constant load exercise; for both exercises the duration was 30 minutes.
Within the limits due to the relatively small size of the sample group, results typically indicate
a fall in skin temperature during the initial stage of running exercise. As the exercise
progresses, the dynamics of the skin temperature response depends on the type of exercise
(graded versus constant load) and probably on the level of training of the subject.

1. Introduction
Human body temperature comprises the temperatures of the core and skin. The core temperature refers
to the temperatures of the abdominal, thoracic and cranial cavities, the skin temperature refers to the
temperatures of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Core temperature is essentially the temperature of
the blood in the circulation and is regulated by the brain, whereas skin temperature is influenced more
by skin blood flow and environmental conditions [1].
The thermo-regulatory system of the human body is aimed at maintaining a constant core
temperature against a wide range of environmental and/or physical work conditions. This constant
temperature (about 37°C during rest) is the result of a balance between the metabolic heat production
and the heat dissipation to the environment. During intense exercise, metabolic heat production can
increase by 10- to 20 fold with respect to heat production at rest. Even if core temperature elevation up
to 40°C may be tolerated during long-distance running races or training workouts, most of the extra
metabolic heat has to be carried away from the body by conduction, convection, radiation and
evaporation [2]. These heat transfer processes are mainly controlled by the skin temperature; indeed,
the higher the temperature difference between the skin and the external environment, the higher the
heat transfer rate dissipated to the environment. At the same time, intense physical activity activates
1
To whom any correspondence should be addressed

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

compensatory vasoregulation through a reduction of blood flow in the skin compartment (skin
vasoconstriction) and an increase demand of blood flow to active muscles. Therefore, the thermal
regulatory and hemodynamic processes during physical activity are controlled by two conflicting
mechanisms: the skin vasoconstriction induced by the blood flow demand to active muscles and the
skin vasodilation required by thermoregulation to increase warm blood flow and heat conduction to
the skin [3].
Consider the circulatory system model shown in Fig.1. The scheme on the left-hand, taken from
Bejan’s book [4], consists of three main parts: the heart, the pulmonary circulation, and the systemic
circulation; blood is forced away from the heart to flow into the systemic and pulmonary circuits and
then returns to the heart. In the right-hand picture, the system circulation has been here modified in
order to split the cutaneous blood flow circulation from the internal body flow circulation.

alveolar sacs

Pulmonary Heart Heart

blood (Left) (Right)
circulation mass
flowrate

skin
core skin
surface
Left Right
compart- surface
Heart Left Right ment
chamber chamber
internal
blood
skin flow
blood blood
Systemic mass flow
circulation flowrate

O2 muscles

muscles

Figure 1. Simple scheme of circulatory system taken from [4] (left-hand) and implementation
of the circulatory system by taking into account cutaneous blood circulation (right-hand).

The role of skin blood flow, vital to the human thermoregulatory control [5], can be inferred in
combination with the energy balance of body during exercise shown in Figure 2. At the beginning of
exercise, the increased oxygen supply to muscles implies a larger demand of blood flow to active
muscles and thus a reduction of cutaneous blood flow (skin vasoconstriction). If the environmental air
temperature and mean radiant temperature are lower than body temperature, skin vasoconstriction
induces a reduction of the skin temperature due to the exposition to a cooler environment. At the same
time, heat starts to accumulate into the body due the intense metabolic heat production, leading to an
increase in core temperature. Beyond a “set-point temperature”, the hypothalamic thermoregulatory
centers generate a “thermal command signal” to activate the heat loss response consisting in cutaneous
vasodilation and sweating. Cutaneous vasodilation increases blood flow to the skin several-fold: the
warmer blood redirected from the body core to the surface (blood perfusion) substantially increases
the convective heat transfer from the core to the periphery; as a result the skin temperature tends to
increase. Well trained and/or elite runners able to tolerate high core temperature or produce a reduced

2
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

amount of metabolic heat by the oxidation process (as compared with less trained and/or recreational
runners) delay skin vasodilation without compromising the blood (and oxygen) supply to active
muscles. In these conditions, they may sustain a great effort for the whole duration of the exercise.
Conversely, runners whose increasing metabolic production, at a certain point, induces a cutaneous
vasodilation will face a reduction in performance during the exercise due to decreased blood (and
oxygen) supply to muscles.
It is apparent from above considerations that for exercising subjects the knowledge of skin
temperature during an intense activity like long-distance running is of great importance to understand
the sustainability of the required muscular work as well as to infer a possible association of the
thermoregulatory response with the athletic performance. Modern thermal imaging devices like
infrared thermography are particularly suitable to precisely map the cutaneous temperature distribution
and its evolution during exercise. Infrared thermography has been widely used to visualize skin
temperature in biomedical sciences (see, for instance, refs. [6,7]); however, a limited number of
investigations [8-10] are devoted to dynamic thermographic imaging during running exercise. The
time-evolution of skin temperature during running activity can give useful information about the
adaptation of the subject as a function of specific type, intensity and duration of exercise. Moreover,
recent studies performed on cyclists [11,12] suggested the possibility to use thermal imaging as an
indirect method to evaluate the level of training efficiency.
The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the cutaneous temperature response to running
exercise under controlled laboratory conditions, in order to gain an insight into the involved thermal
regulatory and hemodynamic processes and to provide the basis for subsequent studies aimed at
investigating the possible association between the skin temperature changes and the athletic
performance.

Heat
conduction
from core
to skin

Tcore
Tsk Heat exchange
from skin to the
Metabolic environment
heat
production

Heat exchange
associated with
blood perfusion Figure 2. Energy balance during
physical activity for core and skin
Mechanical compartments.
work

2. Materials and methods

The study was designed to measure the skin temperature response to different levels of physical
activity, consisting of running exercise on a treadmill with graded or constant load.

2.1 Subjects
Seven healthy and active subjects (six males, one female) gave informed consent to participate in this
investigation. All of them regularly trained from 3 to 5 sessions per week and were used to run in
middle-distance and long-distance races. Some of them took part to Italian youth and absolute

3
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

championships in middle-distance track competitions (5000m, 3000m steeplechase), others regularly

run half-marathons and marathons with PB (Personal Best) under 1hour, 25minutes and 3hours,
respectively. Their age, weight, and height ranged from 18 to 57 years (mean: 33 years), from 50 to 71
kg (mean: 62 kg), and from 1.69 to 1.9 m (mean: 1.75 m), respectively. The body mass index was in
the 17.2-24.3 kg/m2 range (mean: 20.2 kg/m2).

2.2 Procedures
Treadmill running exercise was performed in an internal room with controlled air temperature and
humidity conditions (temperature = 22°C±0.3°C, relative humidity 60%±2%, no direct ventilation).
During tests, the athletes wore a light running kit or exercised bare-chested. Each experiment was
conducted at the same time of day (late morning) to avoid variation due to circadian rhythm of body
temperature.
Two different treadmill protocols were used: a graded load exercise and a constant load exercise.
During the graded load exercise, from an initial value of 6 km/h the treadmill velocity was
incremented by 1.5 km/h every 5 minutes up to the maximum value of 13.5 km/h. Throughout each
step the speed was kept constant and thermal images of anterior and posterior body were typically
taken after 4-4.5 minutes from the initiation of the respective speed step. The constant load exercise
consisted of 25 min-running at the constant speed of 12 km/h, preceded by a warm-up period (5 min at
6 km/h) with thermal images (front and back of the body) typically taken every 5 minutes. The
duration of both running sessions was 30 minutes. The standardized exercise programs are
summarized in the scheme reported in Table 1.
For both protocols, the treadmill was set at zero inclination and no airflow was present during the
exercise; heart rate was continuously monitored by means of a standard ECG device. Before each
exercise, the participants stood motionless for a 10 minute acclimatisation period. At the end of each
30-minute exercise period, subjects stood motionless for a further 5-10 minute rest period.
All seven subjects performed the graded load treadmill test. Four of them performed the constant
load test at a few days distance from the previous test. For each subject, the highest heart rate recorded
during each exercise was reached at the end of the test. It ranged from 72% to 91% of respective age-
predicted maximal heart rate for the graded load exercise and from 71% to 90% for the constant load
exercise.

Table 1. Graded and constant load exercise scheme.

graded constant
load load
duration (min) velocity velocity
(km/h) (km/h)
acclimatisaton (10 min) 0 0
0-5 6 6
5-10 7.5 12
10-15 9 12
15-20 10.5 12
20-25 12 12
25-30 13.5 12
recovery (10 min) 0 0

2.3 Estimation of total-body skin temperature

Thermal images of subjects during running exercise were taken by using a digital infrared camera
(FLIR T335, Flir Systems Inc, USA, 320 x 240 pixels, Thermal sensitivity/NETD < 0.05°C). All the
thermographic measurements were performed on the nude skin. Infrared emissivity of skin was set at

4
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

0.98 [7]; it is worth noting that the sweat, when present on the skin, does not significantly affect the
surface emissivity as reported in [8].
The accuracy of infrared temperature measurements was assessed by a calibration test carried out
by gradually heating an aluminium plate (110 mm × 150 mm × 8 mm) equipped with a plane heater on
the back face and coated with a high-emissivity black paint on the frontal face. The calibration plate
was surrounded, on lateral and bottom sides, by thermally insulating material (extruded polystyrene)
to promote uniform temperature conditions. Ten fine-gauge, pre-calibrated, thermocouples, housed in
small holes drilled in the material at different positions as close to the surface as possible, were used to
measure the plate temperature and to verify the temperature uniformity. During the test, the plate was
heated in order to reach a desired plate temperature, measured by the thermocouples, and the power
was adjusted to maintain the equilibrium. At the steady state, the infrared image of the plate was
captured and thermocouple readings were recorded. The maximum difference in temperature values
given by thermocouples was 0.1°C, thus proving the high degree of temperature uniformity in the
plate. This procedure was repeated for plate temperatures from 25 to 42°C. For an emissivity setting of
0.95 on the infrared camera, a typical agreement within 0.2°C was found between the temperatures
detected by infrared camera and thermocouples.
The major limitation of the total body, infrared thermal imaging is that each acquisition is a two-
dimensional representation of a three-dimensional structure. Ideally, acquisitions would provide a
three-dimensional representation of the surface temperature of the entire three-dimensional structure
by using a multiple camera system and suitable post-processing techniques. This procedure largely
increases cost and time to perform the investigation. In this study, the total body skin temperature
was calculated by averaging the thermographic measurements over points encompassing a significant
surface area of each region of interest (e.g., anterior thigh, abdomen, posterior calf, etc.). In order to
minimize the errors associated with the calculation procedure of the total-body skin temperature,
different literature relationships, proposed for the mean skin temperature evaluation, were considered.
They are typically structured in the following form
n
Tsk = ( ∑ f i Tsk ,i )/f0 (1)
i =1

where Tsk is the calculated total-body mean skin temperature, Tsk,i are local (or regionally averaged)
skin temperatures, fi are the corresponding weighting factors (with f0=1, unless differently specified)
and n is the number of skin temperature measurement sites. A survey of literature relationships is
given in [13] where total-body skin temperature calculations were based on a number of skin locations
n ranging from 3 to 15. Table 2 reports the weighting factors fi (for each region of the body surface)
and the value of f0 to be used in Eq.(1) for four different formulas, based on n=3, 8, 12 and 15. Each
formula is named according to the notation introduced in [13]: the number of local skin temperature
sites (8, 10, 12 or 15) is followed by a letter (W or U) indicating a weighted or unweighted (same
weighting factor for all the skin sites) formula. The apices denote formulas (12W’ and 15U’) modified
here to exclude the contribution of foot skin temperature, whose value can not be extracted from
infrared thermographic images of runners. Some measurement sites were changed in [13] from those
adopted in the original studies since accurate thermographic measurements revealed, for the new sites,
a better agreement with the true mean skin temperature, measured for ten nude subjects as the
arithmetic mean of local temperatures (from 10841 pixels) provided by infrared images of the total
body surface. The individual sites subjected to local (or regionally averaged, as shown in the picture
close to the table) temperature measurements were: cheek a, chest b, abdomen c, scapula d,
subscapula e, lumbar f, posterior upper arm g, anterior forearm h, posterior forearm i, hand j, anterior
thigh k, posteromedial thigh l, posterolower thigh m, anterior calf n, posterior calf o, foot p. Choi et al
[13] found that formulas based on a number of at least eight locations (n≥8) were in close agreement
(within ±0.2°C) with the true mean skin temperature for 80 to 90% of the performed measurements on
their subjects, staying at rest under ambient temperature conditions ranging from 4 to 40°C.

5
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

Table 2. Body surface regions (a→p), corresponding weighting factors fi and value of f0 used in the
literature relationships: 3W (n=3), 8W (n=8), 12W (n=12), 15U (n=15). The apices denote formulas
12W’ (n=11) and 15U’ (n=14) modified here to exclude the contribution of the foot skin temperature.
The measurement sites have been modified from the original ones according to Choi et al [13].

3W 8W 12 W 15 U 12 W’ 15 U’
a 0.07 0.07 0.0666 0.07 0.0666
b 0.0875 0.0666 0.0875 0.0666 front back
a
c 0.5 0.175 0.0875 0.0666 0.0875 0.0666 b
d 0.0666 0.0666 c
e 0.175 0.0875 0.0666 0.0875 0.0666 d
e
f 0.0875 0.0666 0.0875 0.0666 f
g 0.07 0.0666 0.0666 g
h
h 0.07 0.0666 0.0666 i
i 0.14 0.14 0.14 j
j 0.05 0.05 0.0666 0.05 0.0666 k
l
k 0.19 0.095 0.0666 0.095 0.0666 m
l 0.095 0.0666 0.095 0.0666 n
o
m 0.0666 0.0666 p
n 0.065 0.0666 0.065 0.0666
o 0.36 0.2 0.065 0.0666 0.065 0.0666
p 0.07 0.0666 / /
f0 1 1 1 1 0.93 0.9333

Despite their results were obtained for resting nude subjects, literature relationships implemented
by Choi et al [13] were used in the present study to process the thermographic measurements
performed on running subjects, due to the lack of specific formulas devoted to the mean skin
temperature evaluation during exercise. Figure 3 shows the mean skin temperature, evaluated from the
combination of regionally averaged thermographic measurements, for an athlete during a treadmill
running exercise at constant load. Mean skin temperatures have been evaluated during the warm-up
(0-5 minutes) following the acclimatisation period, the running period at constant velocity V=12km/h
(5-30 minutes), and the resting period (30-35 minutes). Inspection of figure shows that temperature
distributions obtained by literature relationships have a common trend, except for results given by the
relationship based on only three measurement points. Similar results were found by processing the
individual measurements performed for a large cohort of athletes. Based on the suggestions reported in
[13], the formula involving the largest number of measurement sites (15U’, n=14) was deemed as the
most accurate and thus was adopted to process the present thermographic measurements.
32

15U', n = 14 Figure 3. Mean skin

Total body skin temperature [°C]

12W', n = 11
31 8W, n = 8 temperature, evaluated as a
3W, n = 3
combination of regionally
averaged thermographic
30 measurements by using
different literature formulas,
for a subject during a
29 constant load treadmill
exercise.
28
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Time [min]

6
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

3. Results and discussion

Examples of thermographic images, with color-coded temperature maps, are presented in Figures 4
and 5. Each group of thermographic images has the same thermal scale in order to facilitate the
comparison. Images, taken for three different subjects under conditions of graded load, show the
typical skin temperature modifications on the front of the body during different phases of exercise.
Figure 4 shows the changes in temperature for the female athlete involved in this study: from the
baseline distribution on left-hand side, the skin temperature decreases as the exercise progresses.
Temperature reduction is not uniform over the body; it seems to be less pronounced over calves, neck
and cutaneous projections of liver and spleen. A rapid increase in skin temperature is observed during
motionless recovery from exercise (right-hand side); hyperthermal spots, probably associated with
cutaneous vasodilation occurring at rest, are clearly visible. Similar features of skin temperature
modifications for two male athletes during the grade load exercise are documented in Fig.5.

Figure 4. Infrared thermal images of the anterior body for an athlete during graded load
exercise. From left to right: before exercise, after 15 min exercise period, after 29 min exercise
period, immediately after the end of the exercise. The same thermal scale is adopted.

Figure 5. Infrared
thermal images of the
anterior body for two
athletes during graded
load exercise. From left
to right: before exercise,
after 15 min exercise
period, immediately after
the end of the exercise.
The same thermal scale
is adopted.

7
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

Total-body skin temperature distributions during graded and constant load exercise, averaged
among all the subjects (7 for the graded load exercise, 4 for the constant load exercise), are shown in
Figure 6. The skin temperature distribution for the graded load exercise, averaged only among the
same four subjects participating in the constant load exercise, has been reported too. The same figure
reports the velocity profiles set for the two treadmill protocols.
During the graded load exercise, where the load on the body is progressively increasing (and the
blood demand to the working organs is increasing too), the mean skin temperature of the subjects
decreases throughout the exercise. Time-distributions of skin temperature for the majority of the
participants were similar in shape to that averaged among the subjects; thus individual data are not
reported for the sake of brevity. The reduction of skin temperature occurs immediately on starting to
run, even during the first steps at moderately low velocities, without the appearance of sweat on the
skin and thus it is not related to thermal factors such as evaporation due to skin sweat. This finding is
consistent with results found in [10] under similar experimental conditions: a continuous
vasoconstrictor response, leading to a progressive reduction of blood flow in the tegumentary
apparatus as the exercise intensity is increased, was deemed to justify the decrease in the mean skin
temperature. The mean skin temperature distribution for a reduced group of subjects (4 out of 7, those
participating in both treadmill protocols) has a similar trend but a different slope in the initial and
final steps of exercise, while for both sample groups a nearly flat distribution in the central phase of
exercise is noticed. These observations suggest the influence of individual characteristics (genetic
and/or anthropometric and/or training factors) on the time-evolution of skin temperature during
exercise. At the end of exercise, during recovery, mean skin temperatures increase toward pre-exercise
values.
In the case of constant load exercise, the skin temperature, averaged among four subjects, still
decreases at the beginning of the work due to the initial skin vasoconstriction and then attains a
minimum value, followed by a little and gradual increase over time. It is argued that the initial decline
and the subsequent slight rise in skin temperature is the net result of the competition between the
vasoconstrictor response, which lasts as long as the exercise is continued, and the vasodilator
response, induced by the increasing body temperature. All subjects exhibited the same time-
distribution, but the start and the extent of the temperature rise during the last phase of exercise seem
to be related to the individual grade of vasoregulation. No literature data are available, to the author’s
knowledge, for the dynamic response of skin temperature to a constant load running exercise;
however, a behaviour similar to that here reported, i.e., an initial descending trend (reflecting
vasoconstriction) followed by an ascending trend (reflecting vasodilation) of regional skin
temperatures, was found in [14] (hands) and [15] (hands, thighs and legs) during a steady-load
exercise on a bycycle ergometer.
Further information can be inferred from Figs.7-8, showing the regional skin temperature response
to running exercise. Figure 7 reports, for the female athlete, the skin temperature distributions over
total body, upper limbs (upper arms and forearms) and calves, for the graded load exercise. Inspection
of the figure reveals that the skin temperature decrease is more pronounced over the most peripheral
regions (e.g., upper limbs) less involved in running. Conversely, the skin over exercising muscle mass
(e.g., calves) exhibits only a moderate reduction in temperature and tends to be warmer than skin over
other structures as the exercise progresses; this result is probably related to the increasing delivery of
blood flow to the working muscles for metabolic needs and to the heat conduction from the muscles to
the skin surface.
Comparisons of total body and regionally averaged skin temperature distributions, for two athletes
(one female and one male) under constant load exercise are reported in Figure 8. Solid lines represent
the total body skin temperature distributions, whereas the dashed lines indicate the skin temperature
over upper limbs (top) and calves (bottom). Different colours refer to different athletes. It can be
inferred from Fig.8 that skin temperature over upper arms and forearms shows a time-evolution
similar to that for total body but at a lower level, as outlined in the comment to Fig.7. Temperature of
skin over active muscles (calves) decreases in a similar manner for both athletes; for one subject the

8
 33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

skin over calves is warmer than total body almost throughout the exercise, for the other subject the
temperature of skin over calves starts from a lower value than total body and becomes higher in the
second part of exercise. During the last part of the constant load exercise, skin temperature over calves
decreases up to a value close to that registered for total body, probably due to skin vasodilation and the
consequent reduction of warm blood flow to active muscles.

32
32 32
total body
31 calves

Skin temperature [°C]

upper limbs

30
31 31
Total body skin temperature [°C]

29

28

30 30
27 end of
exercise
26
0 10 20 30 40
29 29 Time [min]

Figure 7. Distributions of the total-body skin

Velocity, graded load temperature and the regionally averaged (over
28 Velocity, constant load 28
Tsk, graded load, N=7 upper limbs and calves) skin temperature for an
Tsk, graded load, N=4 athlete during graded and constant load exercise
Tsk, constant load, N=4

27 27
15 15 33

solid lines: total body

14 14 32 dashed lines: upper limbs
Skin temperature [°C]

13 13
31
12 12
11 11 30

10 10 29

9 9 end of
Velocity [km/h]

28 exercise
8 8
27
7 7
0 10 20 30 40
6 6 Time [min]
33
5 5
32 solid lines: total body
4 4 dashed lines: calves
Skin temperature [°C]

3 3 31

2 2
30
1 1
29
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 end of
28 exercise
Time [min]
27
0 10 20 30 40
Time [min]

Figure 6. Total body skin temperature Figure 8. Distributions of the skin

distributions averaged among the N subjects temperature over the total-body, over upper
during graded and constant load exercise. limbs (top) and over calves (bottom) for two
Treadmill velocities versus time are reported too. athletes during constant load exercise.
Different colours refer to different athletes.

9
33rd UIT (Italian Union of Thermo-fluid-dynamics) Heat Transfer Conference IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 655 (2015) 012062 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/655/1/012062

4. Conclusions
Human thermoregulation during running exercise is ruled by a dynamic energy balance, involving
environmental and physical work conditions, where the skin temperature represents the main variable
controlling the heat exchanges at the body/environment interface. Infrared thermal imaging is
currently the only method for real-time, non-invasive monitoring of cutaneous temperature.
In this work infrared thermography was used to visualize skin temperature of athletes during indoor
treadmill running. For all the investigated subjects a fall in skin temperature during the initial stage of
running exercise was recorded, regardless of the type of work (with graded or constant load). This skin
temperature decrease is probably associated with the cutaneous vasoconstrictor response to exercise. A
continuous increase in load intensity was found to produce further reductions in skin temperature;
conversely, a relative minimum of skin temperature, followed by a little rise, was attained during a
constant load running exercise, probably reflecting the competition between the vasoconstriction
induced by exercise and vasodilation induced by thermoregulation. Hyperthermal spots were observed
during the recovery following the running exercise, probably due to peripheral vasodilation enabling a
progressive transfer of warmer blood from the body core to the surface.
This preliminary study, performed on a limited number of subjects, provided the basis upon which
a subsequent massive investigation of skin temperature response to running exercise, according to
specifically designed protocols and controlled laboratory conditions, could attempt to infer an indirect
estimation of the physical efficiency and/or the training level of athletes.

References
[1] Lim CL, Byrne C and Lee JKW 2008 Human thermoregulation and measurement of body
temperature in exercise and clinical settings Ann. Acad. Med. Singapore 37 347-353
[2] Kenefick RW, Cheuvront SN and Sawka MN 2007 Thermoregulatory function during the
marathon Sports Med. 37 312-315
[3] Johnson JM 1992 Exercise and the cutaneous circulation Exercise Sport Sci. Rev. 20 59-97
[4] Bejan A 2000 Shape and Structure, from Engineering to Nature (Cambridge Press)
[5] Charkoudian N 2003 Skin blood flow in adult human thermoregulation: how it works, when it
does not, and why Mayo Clin. Proc. 78 603-612
[6] Lahiri BB, Bagavathiappan S, Jayakumar T and Philip J 2012 Medical applications of infrared
thermography: A review Infrared [Link]. 55 221–235
[7] Fernández-Cuevas I, Bouzas Marins JC, Arnáiz Lastras J, Gómez Carmona PM, Piñonosa Cano
S, García-Concepción MA and Sillero-Quintana M 2015 Classification of factors influencing
the use of infrared thermography in humans: A review Infrared Phys. Technol. 71 28-55
[8] Clark RP, Mullan BJ and Pugh LGCE 1977 Skin temperature during running - A study using
infra-red colour thermography J. Physiol. 267 53-62
[9] Roberts BC, Waller TM and Caine MP 2007 Thermoregulatory response to base-layer garments
during treadmill exercise Int. J. Sports Sci. Eng. 1 29-38
[10] Merla A, Mattei PA, Di Donato L and Romani GL 2010 Thermal imaging of cutaneous tem-
perature modifications in runners during graded exercise Annals Biomed. Eng. 38 158–163
[11] Akimov EB and Son’kin VD 2011 Skin temperature and lactate threshold during muscle work in
athletes Hum. Physiol. 37 621-628
[12] Cholewka A, Kasprzyk T, Stanek A, Sieroń-Stołtny K and Drzazga Z 2015 May thermal imaging
be useful in cyclist endurance tests? J Therm. Anal. Calorim. (in press) DOI
10.1007/s10973-015-4662-5
[13] Choi JK, Miki K, Sagawa S and Shiraki K 1997 Evaluation of mean skin temperature formulas
by infrared thermography Int. J. Biometeorol. 41 68–75
[14] Zontak A, Sideman S, Verbitsky O and Beyar R 1998 Dynamic thermography: analysis of hand
temperature during exercise Annals Biomed. Eng. 26 988–993
[15] Nakayama T, Ohnuki Y, and Niwa K 1977 Fall in skin temperature during exercise, Jap. J.
Physiol. 27 423-437

10