Radiation

Radiative heat transfer occurs via infrared waves traveling between

two separate objects, which may be at different temperatures.
This transfer can occur even through a vacuum. Bodies receive
radiated electromagnetic energy emitted by the surroundings,
some of which is reflected and the remainder absorbed. Whereas
emissions of radiant energy entail a decrease in internal energy,
absorption results in an increase. Radiance is a directional (vector)
quantity. Therefore, if a body maintains a constant temperature it
is in thermal equilibrium; the energy emitted is counterbalanced
by the energy absorbed plus any heat energy produced internally.
If a body is at either a higher or lower temperature than its sur-
roundings, the net radiative heat transfer is the difference between
emitted and absorbed radiation. In infrared imaging, this radia-
tive heat transfer occurs simultaneously between the human sub-
ject and the local environment, of which the thermal imager itself
is an integral part. The sum of the infrared radiation emitted and
reflected from a surface is what a radiometric thermal imager
detects and quantifies as surface temperature. About 60% of the
heat lost by the human body is lost through radiation.
About 3% of human body heat is lost through conduction.
Fourier�s law of heat conduction states that the rate of heat
transfer through a material is proportional to the gradient in
the temperature and to the area, at right angles to that gra-
dient, through which the heat flows. Heat conduction is also
inversely proportional to the distance through any material
separating the two masses; the greater the distance, the less the
rate of conductive heat transfer. Conduction of heat within the
human body occurs between adjacent structures or regions of
the body. Thermal conduction also occurs between the human
body and items that touch it, such as furniture. Conductive
heat transfer takes place through body tissues even with no
blood flow. In the arms and legs, this transference depends
on the temperature gradient between the skin surface and
underlying muscle as well as the distance from the muscle to
the skin. Heat transfer by conduction is facilitated when the
temperature gradient between muscle and skin is increased. A
subcutaneous muscle warmed by exercise will warm the over-
lying skin by heat conduction which can be detected by ther-
mal imaging. Heat conduction may work both ways, as when
a subject places his or her cold hand on a warm part of their
body, thus temporarily decreasing the skin temperature of that
part while simultaneously raising the temperature of the hand.
Conductive heat transfer may be also be used in thermogra-
phy by changing the skin surface temperature rapidly and reli-
ably. As an example, the thermal recovery time after removing
a cool pack from the skin may differentiate malignant from
benign growths.