Temporal and spatial temperature distributions on glabrous skin irradiated by a 1940 nm continuous-wave laser stimulator.

For predicting pain stimulation effects and avoiding damage in 1940nm laser evoked potentials (LEPs) experiments, a 2-layer finite element model (FEM-2) was constructed. A series of experiments were conducted on ex-vivo pig skin pieces to verify temperature distribution predicted by this model. Various laser powers and beam radii were employed. Experimental data of time-dependent temperature responses in different sub-skin depths and space-dependent surface temperature was recorded by thermocouple instrument. By comparing with the experimental data and model results, FEM-2 model was proved to predict temperature distributions accurately. A logarithmic relationship between laser power density and temperature increment was revealed by the results. It is concluded that power density is an effective parameter to estimate pain and damage effect. The obtained results also indicated that the proposed FEM-2 model can be extended to predict pain and damage thresholds of human skin samples and thus contribute to LEPs study.