SKIN TEMPERATURES IN PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE

Abstract

The importance of thermometric measurements in clinical and experimental medicine is well known; however, such studies often are neglected because the apparatuses available are not sufficiently reliable for clinical use or are too bulky to be carried as part of the physician's examining instruments. Many of the available instruments have certain disadvantages. Thermocouples such as those made by the U. M. A. or Rauh companies have only a single channel (one sensing element), which must be moved from one area of the skin to another in order to make consecutive measurements of skin temperature on different portions of the body. Differences in contact pressure can alter the results of such studies. Thermopiles such as the Dermalor also present technical difficulties because of the necessity for maintaining constant pressure and because they are extremely delicate. An especially undesirable feature of all three of these instruments is the necessity for frequent recalibration