NONINVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF CORE TEMPERATURE

TOPICAL TESTING PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-INVASIVE DEVICE TO MONITOR CORE TEMPERATURE BY SAMPLING THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF THE RESPIRATORY AIR DURING EXPIRATION. PHASE I DEVELOPMENT WILL EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING A FAST-RISE TIME THERMISTOR TO MONITOR THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EXPIRATORY AIR AND THEN USE OTHER MEASUREABLE PARAMETERS TO CALCULATE THE TEMPERATURE DROP AS THE EXPIRED AIR PASSES THROUGH THE BRONCHIAL TREE AND UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT. THE STRATEGY FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT IS TO USE ANESTHETIZED ANIMAL MODELS IN A VARIETY OF HYPOTHERMIC ENVIRONMENTS TO DETERMINE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARAMETERS THAT MUST BE MEASURED TO ACCURATELY ESTIMATE CORE TEMPERATURE. SUCH PARAMETERS MIGHT INCLUDE ORAL TEMPERATURE, TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY OF INSPIRED AIR AND THE RESPIRATORY RATE AND AIR FLOW. THE PHASE I GOAL IS TO TEST A WORKING PROTOTYPE. THE PAHSE II GOAL WILL BE DEVELOPMENT OF A PORTABLE UNIT SUITABLE TO MEASURE CORE TEMPERATURE UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM WILL ENHANCE THE ABILITY OF THE MILITARY TO OPERATE IN LOW TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENTS BY BEING ABLE TO MONITOR WHETHER THEIR TROOPS ARE ENTERING INTO A STATE OF HYPOTHERMIA. IT WILL BE ABLE TO QUICKLY MONITOR TEMPERATURE IN A NON-INVASIVE MANNER WITHOUT THE REMOVAL OF CLOTHING.