International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453

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International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

Influence analysis of thermophysical properties on temperature profiles on T

the breast skin surface
⁎
Alisson A.A. Figueiredoa, , Henrique C. Fernandesb,c, Fernando C. Malheirosd, Gilmar Guimaraese
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto 35400-000, Brazil
b
School of Computer Science, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia 38408-100, Brazil
c
Fraunhofer IZFP Institute for Nondestructive Testing, Saarbrücken 66123, Germany
d
Minas Gerais State University, Ituiutaba 38302-192, Brazil
e
School of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia 38408-100, Brazil

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This work presents a simplified approach for the early detection of breast cancer using thermographic images,
Breast cancer showing that several thermophysical properties of the bio-thermal problem does not need to be previously
Infrared thermography known to locate the geometric center of tumors. A 3D hemispheric breast model composed of different layers
Normalized temperatures (muscle, gland, fat and skin) was constructed to evaluate the thermal behavior on the skin surface from nu-
Thermophysical properties
merical simulations using commercial software COMSOL. The effects of changes in depth, size, metabolism,
Diagnosis simplification
blood perfusion and thermal conductivity of the tumor at surface temperatures were systematically analyzed to
provide important information and guidelines for future medical diagnoses. Variations in blood perfusions and
thermal conductivities of healthy tissue layers were also evaluated. It has been found that changing the size,
metabolism, blood perfusion and thermal conductivity of a centralized tumor in the same coordinate does not
modify the profiles of normalized temperature variations on the breast skin surface. Regarding the properties of
healthy tissue, if a specific region of the breast surface is taken, there is the possibility that the normalized
temperature profiles also do not depend on these properties. Thus, knowing that one of the main limitations in
the estimation of tumors from thermographic images is related to the difficulty of previously knowing the
thermophysical properties of human tissues, the results obtained in this study provide valuable simplifications
for the early diagnosis of breast cancer using infrared thermography.

1. Introduction
Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type
of cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in the world. Of the 8.6
million new cases of cancer estimated for 2018 among women, 24.2%
corresponds to breast cancer. Regarding the 4.2 million cancer deaths
among women estimated for 2018, 15.0% corresponds to breast cancer
[1]. Breast cancer accounts for 30% of new estimated cancer cases
among women in the USA and 28.2% in Europe [2,3].
Several imaging techniques are used to aid in the diagnosis of breast
cancer, especially mammography, magnetic resonance imaging and
ultrasonography. Mammography is the breast cancer screening tool
with the best combination of sensitivity and specificity. However,
mammography still has limitations, such as the emission of ionizing
radiations, high false-negative or false-positive rates, inefficiency for
women with dense breasts (especially young women), among others
[4].
It is known that cancer cells have a different blood flow and me-
tabolism than healthy cells [5]. This change due to the presence of the
tumor can be transmitted to the surrounding tissue, and may change the
temperature on the breast surface [6]. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a
non-destructive technique, non-invasive, contactless, which enables the
mapping of thermal patterns, i.e., thermograms, on the surface of ob-
jects, bodies and systems through the use of an infrared (IR) imaging
instrument, such as an IR camera [7].
According to some institutions such as the American Cancer Society,
American College of Clinical Thermology and the International
Academy of Clinical Thermology, IRT is unable to identify the location
of tumors and can not replace, for example, mammography examina-
tion. However, the addition of thermographic images along with other
types of exams significantly increases the chances of early diagnosis of
the disease [8–10]. A large number of researches have been carried out

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: alisson.figueiredo@ufop.edu.br (A.A.A. Figueiredo), henrique.fernandes@ufu.br (H.C. Fernandes),
fernandomalheiros@gmail.com (F.C. Malheiros), gguima@ufu.br (G. Guimaraes).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2019.104453

0735-1933/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A.A.A. Figueiredo, et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453

Fig. 1. Hemispherical model of the breast: (a) 3D view, (b) x-z cutting plane in the center of the y-axis.

with the aim of making IRT a method capable of early detecting and In a previous work, Figueiredo et al. [26] proposed a new technique
diagnosing breast and other kinds of tumors [11–14]. to determine the geometric center of mammary tumors from correla-
Several clinical tests for the detection of breast abnormalities have tions of superficial skin temperatures obtained by infrared images. The
been performed based on thermograms and the results are very con- presented methodology was able to estimate tumors inside silicone
sistent [15]. A study using the conjugate gradient method in screening samples without the need of previous knowledge of the properties of
breast lesions in patients undergoing thermal mapping demonstrated tumors with an error of less than 4%.
great potential, obtained 96% efficacy in the detection of breast ab- In [27], Figueiredo et al. adapted the technique proposed in [26] to
normalities [16]. The thermal impedance technique was recently ap- estimate the presence of the main types of breast cancer from super-
plied experimentally in hyperplastic materials in order to qualify IRT ficial skin temperatures from numerical simulations of a real 2D ana-
for the detection of mammary tumors, obtaining high sensitivities for tomical model of the breast. This work demonstrated the ability of the
small sizes of inclusions [17]. technique to estimate tumors in real breast geometries without the need
Those works applied IRT together with an optimization method to for prior knowledge of the properties of carcinogenic inclusions.
characterize the presence of breast tumors. To better understand and In this work, a detailed thermal analyzes is presented which allows
interpret the thermal behavior on the breast surface caused by tumors, to affirm that it is possible to estimate the presence of the geometric
different theoretical models must be studied. center of tumors from superficial temperatures without the need of
The transmission line matrix (TLM) method was used to model the previous knowledge of the thermophysical properties of the thermal
heat transfer in a 3D breast in Cartesian coordinates with a built-in problem. The phenomenon is analyzed in a 3D hemispheric breast made
tumor. In this study, the skin surface temperature increase was sig- up of different layers of tissues. The main goal is to present a set of
nificant only for tumors located in the superficial region at a depth up possible simplifications in the process of early detecting breast cancer
to 20 mm [18]. using IR imaging. The computational model was created using COMSOL
In [19,20], estimations of the blood perfusion rate, size and depth of Multiphysics and systematically considers the superficial thermal re-
breast and brain tumors in 1D and 2D models were performed from the sponses in the skin for tumors of different sizes, depths, blood perfu-
surface temperatures simulated by the finite volume method along with sions and thermal conductivity. The influence of the thermophysical
a direct search method and genetic algorithmns (GA). Estimations of properties of the healthy tissue region on the surface thermal profiles is
the tumor parameters had maximum errors of 5.5%. In [21,22], the also analyzed.
effect of tumor size and depth on breast surface temperatures was
analyzed.
Infrared images were used in [23] for the early detection of cuta- 2. Material and methods
neous melanomas based on a 2D multilayer heat transfer model. The
transient temperature signals capture from the skin surface were de- 2.1. Mathematical and physical model
modulated according to the lock-in principle to calculate both the phase
and the amplitude of the lesions. The results of this demodulation allow In this study, heat transfer in the breast is modeled in a 3D hemi-
the detection of melanomas at an early stage when the penetration spherical domain, as shown in Fig. 1a. The breast is composed of four
depth of the lesion is less than 0.1 mm. layers of tissues: skin, fat, mammary gland and muscle, which are
In [24], three types of cooling in lesions close to the skin surface shown in Fig. 1b (x-z cutting plane in the center of the y-axis of the
were analyzed from infrared images in 2D models. The results suggest Fig. 1a). Each layer is assumed as a homogeneous medium and its re-
that it is possible to apply a moderate temperature of about 20 °C to spective thermophysical properties are presented in Table 1. The
achieve effective skin cooling, with an acceptable cooling duration spherical tumor of initial diameter d = 15 mm was centralized in three
(¡2 min) in a clinical setting. This level of cooling is not likely to cause different coordinates in the center of the y axis within the region
discomfort to the patient. The duration of the cooling can be adjusted composed by the mammary gland. The simulations to be presented
considering the characteristics of the lesion to optimize the thermal
contrast. Table 1
Thermophysical properties of biological tissues [25,32,33].
The optimization of skin cooling by 2D computational model for the
early detection of breast cancer was performed by [25]. In this work it Tissue Thickness σ Thermal Blood Heat source,
was concluded that 5 min of cooling time is enough to increase the layers [mm] conductivity, k [W/ perfusion, w Q [W/m3]
(mK)] [s−1]
thermal contrast in infrared images, which is an acceptable value in
clinical applications. Skin 1.6 0.45 0.00018 368.1
One can observe that the cited works present several alternatives to Fat 5.0 0.21 0.00022 400
increase the sensitivity of the superficial thermal profiles and meth- Gland 43.4 0.48 0.00054 700
Muscle 15 0.48 0.00270 700
odologies for the estimation of tumors from the thermal mapping on the
Tumor d = 15 0.62 0.01600 65,400
surface of the tissue.

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considered the presence of only one tumor inside the breast.

Based on the medical protocols that normalize the use of infrared
thermography under steady state thermal conditions in clinical exams
[28,29], the heat transfer in human tissue can be modeled at steady
state according to the equation proposed by Pennes in 1948 [30] as
ki ∇2 Ti + ρb cb wb, i (Tb − Ti ) + Qi = 0 (1)

where i represents the layers of the breast, muscle (i = 1), gland

(i = 2), fat (i = 3), skin (i = 4) and tumor (i = 5).The wb, i, and ki
correspond to the blood perfusion rate and the thermal conductivity of
the tissues, respectively. The variables ρb, cb, and Tb represent the
specific mass, the specific heat and the arterial temperature of the
blood, respectively. The metabolic heat generation of each tissue layer
is denoted by Qi, and Ti is the temperature of each tissue layer. The
values of the thermophysical properties used in the simulations are
listed in Table 1. The specific mass (ρb) and specific heat (cb) for blood
Fig. 2. Numerical mesh of the hemispherical 3D breast model.
were 1060 kg/m3 and 3770 J/(kgK), respectively [31].
Eq. 1 is solved with appropriate boundary conditions on the breast
surface and the temperature and heat flux continuity conditions at each
interface between breast tissue layers. The core body temperature is
prescribed at the bottom of the muscle layer, the heat flux at the bottom
horizontal skin boundaries is taken to be zero, and the skin surface is
exposed to thermal convection, as illustrated in Fig. 1b.
The continuity of temperature and heat flux at the interface between
tissue layers is described by
Ti (x , y, z ) = Ti + 1 (x , y, z ),
∂T (x , y, z ) ∂T (x , y, z )
ki i = ki + 1 i + 1
∂n ∂n (2)

The lower part of the muscular layer is maintained at constant body

temperature Tcore = 37 ° C. The boundary condition of the lower hor-
izontal layer adjacent to the muscle is

∂T1
=0
∂n bottom surface (3)
Fig. 3. Analysis of thermal properties.
The thermal convection boundary condition on the skin surface of
the breast is specified as
layers of the breast tissue.
q′′ = h [T (x , y, z )|skin surface − T∞] (4) In this work, the thermal model of the breast is analyzed in different
situations. The temperature profiles on the breast surface are analyzed
where h is the thermal convection coefficient equals to 5 W/(m2K) and
first, then, the difference between the temperatures of breasts with
room temperature, T∞, considered equals to 21 °C. These values refer to
tumor and without tumor, and, finally, evaluates the normalized tem-
a natural convection and a relatively low temperature medical room.
perature variations (each temperature variation profile is divided by its
The thermal model showed in Fig. 1, Eq. 1 and their respective
respective maximum value). The following list is all analyzes that are
boundary conditions are solved using the software COMSOL Multi-
carried out in this work, also represented by the schematic of Fig. 3:
physics 4.3b (license number 6386748) for dimensions and properties
of the tissue specified in Table 1. Thermophyscal properties and
1. Analysis of tumor depth variation, i.e., the thermal profiles on the
boundary conditions were implemented using the COMSOL bioheat
breast surface are analyzed for three distinct problems, where the
transfer module.
same tumor is positioned at three different depths in the center of
For a steady state problem, mash convergence is a simpler task
the y-axis, represented by tumors T1, T2, and T3, as shown in Fig. 1b.
compared to transient problem. The skin surface is of particular in-
2. Analysis of tumor size variation, i.e., three different diameters are
terest, the discretized skin layer mesh has 45,429 tetrahedral elements.
analyzed at the same tumor geometric center T2, d = 10, 15 and
The total mesh of the breast domain (Fig. 2) has 384,061 tetrahedral
20 mm.
elements (finer mesh). The change to the finer mesh (extra fine mesh)
3. Analysis of tumor heat generation, i.e., three different values of heat
resulted in less than 0.5% difference in the solution, therefore the se-
generation are analyzed for the tumor T2, Qtumor = 29,000, 50,000
lected mesh size was adequate for our analysis.
and 65,400 W/m3. These values were selected based on the heat
generation values of tumors found in the literature [32].
2.2. Analyzed thermophisical properties 4. Analysis of tumor blood perfusion, i.e., three different values of
blood perfusion rate are analyzed for tumor T2, wb, tumor = 0.0063,
Most studies published in the literature that propose the estimation 0.016 and 0.05 s−1. The maximum and minimum values were
of mammary tumors from superficial temperatures are based on nu- chosen from the central value found in the literature [33].
merical simulations that use some optimization technique, whose ob- 5. Analysis of the thermal conductivity of the tumor, i.e., three dif-
jective is to identify characteristics such as depth, size, heat generation, ferent values for thermal conductivity are analyzed for tumor T2,
thermal conductivity and blood perfusion of tumors [34–36]. However, ktumor = 0.1, 0.62 and 1.0 W/(mK). The maximum and minimum
the estimation of such characteristics will generally occur depending on values were chosen from the central value found in the literature
several other thermophysical properties of the tumor and the healthy

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Fig. 4. Breast thermal distribution: (a) without tumor, (b) tumor T1.

34.6 1
Healthy T1
T1 0.9 T2
34.4 T2 T3
T3 0.8

34.2
Temperature variation [°C]
0.7
Temperature [°C]

0.6
34
0.5
33.8
0.4

33.6 0.3

0.2
33.4
0.1

33.2 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

1
T1
0.9 T2
T3
0.8

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]

Fig. 5. Tumor depth variation in the breast: (a) Skin surface temperatures, (b) Temperature variations and (c) Normalized temperature variations.

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A.A.A. Figueiredo, et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453

34.6 0.45
Healthy d = 10 mm
d = 10 mm 0.4 d = 15 mm
34.4 d = 20 mm
d = 15 mm
d = 20 mm 0.35
34.2

Temperature variation [°C]

0.3
Temperature [°C]

34 0.25

33.8 0.2

0.15
33.6
0.1

33.4
0.05

33.2 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

1
d = 10 mm
0.9 d = 15 mm
d = 20 mm
0.8

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]

Fig. 6. Tumor size variation on the breast - T2: (a) Skin superficial temperatures, (b) Temperature variations and (c) Normalized temperature variations.

[33].
6. Analysis of the blood perfusion of the healthy breast region, i.e.,
three different values of blood perfusion in the healthy tissue layers
(without tumor) of the breast are analyzed. The blood perfusion of
all layers are considered equals to wb, healthy = 0.00018 and 0.00054
s−1, and it is verified if the thermal behavior of the tumor T2 on the
surface has changed when compared to the initial setting for blood
perfusions (already listed in Table 1).
7. Finally, the thermal conductivity of the healthy breast region is
evaluated, i.e., three different values of the thermal conductivity
coefficient of the healthy layers are analyzed. The thermal con-
ductivity of all healthy layers is considered to be equal to khealthy =
0.21 and 0.48 W/(mK), and it is verified if the thermal behavior of
the tumor T2 on the surface has changed when compared to the
initial setting for thermal conductivities (already listed in Table 1).
3. Results and discussions
In this work, the influence of various thermophysical properties of
the breast on the skin surface temperatures (temperatures that can be
obtained by IR images) was investigated. First, it is presented the
steady-state distribution of temperatures on the healthy breast surface
(Fig. 4a) and on the breast with the tumor T1 (Fig. 4b). Since T1 is only
6.6 mm from the surface of the skin, one can observe that this inclusion
is capable of increasing the surface temperature in approximately 1 °C.
3.1. Tumor depth influence
Fig. 5a shows the superficial temperatures in the skin for the nu-
merical simulations of the breast without tumor and for the three tumor
cases, T1, T2, and T3, already illustrated in Fig. 1b. Each tumor has a
distinct thermal profile, and the further away from the skin surface,
more similar are the temperatures between tumor and healthy cases,
making it difficult to diagnose anomalies through thermographic
images. Looking to analyze the temperature variations caused by the
different tumor depths, Fig. 5b shows the difference between the sur-
face temperatures of each case with and without tumor, highlighting
the thermal disturbances that each tumor causes in the healthy breast.

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34.6 0.25

Healthy Q = 29000 W/m3

Q = 29000 W/m3 Q = 50000 W/m3
34.4
Q = 50000 W/m 3 Q = 65400 W/m3
0.2
Q = 65400 W/m3
34.2

Temperature variation [°C]

Temperature [°C]

0.15
34

33.8
0.1

33.6

0.05
33.4

33.2 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

1
Q = 29000 W/m3
0.9
Q = 50000 W/m3
Q = 65400 W/m3
0.8

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]

Fig. 7. Variation of tumor volumetric heat generation on the breast - T2: (a) Skin surface temperatures, (b) Temperature variations and (c) Normalized temperature
variations.

Tumor T1, the closest to the skin surface, causes a temperature variation
of about 1 °C. Tumor T3, the furthest from the skin surface, increases the
superficial temperature of the breast skin by less than 0.1 °C. The
normalization of temperature variations is also performed, i.e., each
thermal variation presented in Fig. 5b is divided by its respective
maximum value. The result of this calculation is presented in Fig. 5c,
where one observes how each tumor depth modifies the temperatures in
the skin. T3, the deepest tumor, causes a thermal change on the skin
surface in the less flat Gaussian shape and T1, the most superficial, is
characterized by a flattened Gaussian shape.
Therefore, normalized information on temperature variations
characterize the way each tumor changes the skin surface temperatures.
Analyzing only the change of depth for tumors of the same properties
and parameters, it is concluded that tumors with different depths cause
different forms of surface thermal perturbation. By using the normal-
ized temperature variation profiles to estimate the presence of tumors,
the depth parameter will be an unknown factor in the problem.
3.2. Tumor size influence
At this stage, only the diameter is changed to the same geometric
center of the tumor T2. For these analyzes, the tumor T2 is considered to
have diameters of d = 10, 15 and 20 mm. Fig. 6a shows the superficial
skin temperatures for the numerical simulations of healthy breast and
with these three different tumors. It is again observed that each tumor
increases the temperatures in the breast with different intensities, due
to the different volumes that result in the change in heat generation of
tumors. The larger the tumor, the greater the amount of heat generated,
causing a rise in temperature above the other smaller tumors. Small
tumors produce a distribution of skin surface temperatures similar to
healthy tissue, making it difficult to diagnose anomalies by thermo-
graphic images. The temperature variations caused by the different
tumors can be seen in Fig. 6b. The biggest tumor (d = 20 mm) causes
an increase in skin surface temperatures of approximately 0.45 °C. The
smallest tumor (d = 10 mm) increases the skin superficial temperatures
in only 0.1 °C. One can observe in the normalized temperature variation

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34.6 0.3
Healthy w b,tumor = 0.0063 s-1
w b,tumor = 0.0063 s-1
34.4 w b,tumor = 0.0160 s-1
0.25
w b,tumor = 0.0160 s-1
w b,tumor = 0.0500 s-1
w b,tumor = 0.0500 s-1
34.2

Temperature variation [°C]

0.2
Temperature [°C]

34
0.15
33.8

0.1
33.6

0.05
33.4

33.2 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

1
w b,tumor = 0.0063 s-1
0.9
w b,tumor = 0.0160 s-1
0.8 w b,tumor = 0.0500 s-1

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]

Fig. 8. Variation of tumor blood perfusion on the breast - T2: (a) Skin surface temperatures, (b) Temperature variations and (c) Normalized temperature variations.

profiles that both tumor produce the same result, as shown in Fig. 6c.
This happens because the three tumors have the same geometric center,
i.e., the normalized temperature variation profile is independent of the
tumor size. The tumor size only increases the heat intensity being
generate and not the way that heat propagates in the biological tissue.
Therefore, estimation of the geometric center of tumors can be
performed without prior knowledge of its size, since tumors of different
sizes centered at the same coordinates produce the same normalized
thermal effect on the skin surface.
healthy case. However, tumor metabolism also does not change the
normalized temperature variation profiles on the skin surface. This is
because, the change in the tumor heat generation only modifies the
intensity of the heat carried in the neighbourhood, and not the form of
heat propagation.
Thus, it is also not necessary to know in advance the tumor heat
generation to perform the estimation of the tumor geometric center
using the normalized temperature variation profiles.

3.4. Tumor blood perfusion influence

3.3. Tumor metabolism influence
The relationship of tumor metabolism and the temperature profiles
was also analyzed. For this purpose, only the volumetric heat genera-
tion of tumor T2 is changed to 29,000 W/m3 and 50,000 W/m3. Fig. 7a,
b and c show the temperature profiles, the temperature variation and
the normalized temperature variation, respectively. The higher the
metabolism of the tumor, the higher the temperature on the breast skin
surface, also causing greater thermal variations when compared to the
The blood perfusion influence of the tumor T2 was also evaluated.
For these analyses, only the values of perfusion rate wb, tumor = 0.0063,
0.0160 and 0.0500 s−1 were changed. Fig. 8a, b and c show the tem-
perature profiles, the temperature variation and the normalized tem-
perature variation, respectively. The higher the blood perfusion rate of
the tumor, the lower the temperature on the breast skin surface, also
causing less thermal variations when compared to the healthy case.
However, tumor blood perfusion also does not change the normalized

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34.6 0.3
ktumor = 0.10 W/(mK)
Healthy
ktumor = 0.10 W/(mK) ktumor = 0.62 W/(mK)
34.4
ktumor = 0.62 W/(mK) 0.25 ktumor = 1.00 W/(mK)
ktumor = 1.00 W/(mK)
34.2

Temperature variation [°C]

0.2
Temperature [°C]

34
0.15
33.8

0.1
33.6

0.05
33.4

33.2 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

1
ktumor = 0.10 W/(mK)
0.9 ktumor = 0.62 W/(mK)
ktumor = 1.00 W/(mK)
0.8

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]

Fig. 9. Variation of tumor blood perfusion on the breast - T2: (a) Skin surface temperatures, (b) Temperature variations and (c) Normalized temperature variations.

temperature variation profiles on the skin surface. This is because, the
change in the blood perfusion rate of the tumor modifies the heat ex-
change between the tumor tissue and its surrounding blood, i.e.,
changing this thermophysical property only changes the intensity of
thermal energy from the tumor to the breast surface, and not the form
of heat propagation.
Therefore, the blood perfusion rate of the tumor is not necessary for
the estimation of the tumor geometric center using normalized tem-
perature variation profiles.
3.5. Tumor thermal conductivity influence
The thermal conductivity of the tumor was also evaluated for T2. For
the thermal conductivity analyses, ktumor = 0.10, 0.62 and 1.00 W/(mK)
were considered. Fig. 9a, b and c show the temperature profiles, the
temperature variation and the normalized temperature profiles, re-
spectively. The higher the thermal conductivity of the tumor, the higher
the temperature on the breast skin surface, also causing greater thermal
variations when compared to the healthy case. However, tumor thermal
conductivity also does not change the normalized temperature varia-
tion profiles on the skin surface. This is because, the change in the
tumor thermal conductivity also only modifies the intensity of the heat
carried in the neighbourhood, and not the form of heat propagation.
Therefore, the thermal conductivity of the tumor is not necessary for
the estimation of the tumor geometric center using normalized tem-
perature variation profiles.
3.6. Healthy tissue blood perfusion rate influence
Heat transfer on the breast also depends of the thermophysical
properties of the healthy tissue layers (muscle, gland, fat and skin). In
order to analyze the influence of these characteristics in the tempera-
ture profiles, it is necessary to obtain the thermal behavior on the breast
with and without tumor, with the same characteristics in the healthy
region, i.e., verify if superficial temperature profiles will change by
changing these properties.

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35 35
w b,healthy = 0.00018 s-1 w b,healthy = 0.00018 s-1
w b,healthy = original data w b,healthy = original data
34.5
w b,healthy = 0.00054 s-1 34.5
w b,healthy = 0.00054 s-1

34
Temperature [°C]

Temperature [°C]
34

33.5

33.5
33

33
32.5

32 32.5
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

0.6 1
w b,healthy = 0.00018 s-1 w b,healthy = 0.00018 s-1
0.9
w b,healthy = original data w b,healthy = original data
0.5
w b,healthy = 0.00054 s-1 0.8 w b,healthy = 0.00054 s-1
Temperature variation [°C]

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.4
0.6

0.3 0.5

0.4
0.2
0.3

0.2
0.1
0.1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

Fig. 10. Variation of blood perfusions of healthy tissue layers: (a) Surface temperatures on the skin of the breast without tumor, (b) Surface temperatures on the skin
of the breast with tumor, (c) Temperature variations with and without tumor, (d) Normalization of temperature variations.

Fig. 10a shows the skin surface temperatures for three cases of
healthy breasts considering different configurations for the blood per-
fusions of the breast tissue layers. In addition to the original config-
uration shown in Tables 1, thermal behaviors were also obtained con-
sidering blood perfusions equal to wb, healthy = 0.00018 and 0.00054
s−1. These values were selected based on the lowest and highest value
found for this thermal property (disregarding the muscle) in Table 1. It
is observed that the higher the blood perfusion, the higher the tem-
perature on the skin surface. Increased blood perfusion rate accelerates
the heat exchange between the tissue layer and the surrounding blood,
resulting in this increase in superficial temperatures.
Fig. 10b shows the skin surface temperatures of the breast with
tumor T2 considering the same three blood perfusion rates for healthy
tissue. One can observe that temperature increases with the increase of
blood flow. However, by observing Fig. 10c, which shows the tem-
perature variations of the case with tumor for each value of blood
perfusion, one can observe that the greatest thermal variations occur in
breasts with lower blood perfusions. This is because the higher the
blood perfusion rate of the healthy layers, the more intense is the heat
exchange between the blood and the healthy tissue, causing the effect
of heat generated by the tumor to be attenuated by the thermoregula-
tion process of the human body.
After obtaining the normalized temperature variations profiles
presented in Fig. 10d, it can be observed that these profiles are not
exactly the same. In other words, the way the tumor alters the thermal
field on the skin surface is influenced by the blood perfusion variation
of healthy tissue layers. However, it should be noted that in the region
close to the greater sensitivity of this graph, a significant similarity
between the shapes of the thermal profiles is observed.
Therefore, normalized temperature variation profiles are not totally
independent of the blood perfusion values of the healthy breast layers.
In order to estimate the geometric center of tumors, an approximate
value of this characteristic will be needed.

9
A.A.A. Figueiredo, et al.
0.3
0.25
Temperature variation [°C]
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0 0
0 50 100
Arc length [mm]
Fig. 11. Variation of thermal conductivities of healthy tissue layers: (a) Variations in skin surface temperatures e (b) Normalized temperature variations.
3.7. Healthy tissue thermal conductivity influence
The influence of the thermal conductivities of the healthy breast
region was also investigated for the tumor case T2. Fig. 11a shows the
superficial temperatures variations for the breasts with three different
configurations for the thermal conductivity of healthy tissue layers
(khealthy). In addition to the original configuration (Table 1), all healthy
tissue layers were considered with khealthy = 0.21 and 0.48 W/(mK).
Such chosen values include the lower and upper limits for the healthy
layers shown in Table 1. The higher the thermal conductivity of healthy
tissue layers, higher heat transfer efficiency from the tumor to the skin
surface, causing higher surface thermal variation.
Fig. 11b shows the normalized temperature variations for the si-
mulated cases considering different values for khealthy. It is observed that
there is a certain influence of this property in the form of the normal-
ized thermal variation profile. Therefore, an approximate value of
khealthy will be necessary to estimate the geometric center of tumors in
breasts using normalized temperature variations obtained by IR images.
3.8. Fat layer thickness influence
Finally, the effect of changing the thickness of the breast fat layer
was also investigated for the tumor case T2. Fig. 12a shows the skin
temperatures for three cases of healthy breasts considering different
configurations for the fat layer thickness, σFat = 2, 5, and 8 mm. These
values were selected based on a possible change to more or less of the
breast fat percentage. It is observed that the higher the fat layer, lower
the temperature on the skin surface. Increasing the fat layer thickness
causes a thermal insulation effect, resulting in this decrease in super-
ficial temperatures. Fig. 12b shows the skin surface temperatures of the
breast with tumor T2 considering the same three fat layer thickness for
healthy tissue. One can observe that temperature decreases with the
increase of fat. However, by observing Fig. 12c, which shows the
temperature variations for each value of fat layer, one can observe that
the greatest thermal variations occur in breasts with higher fat layer
thickness. Regarding the normalized temperature profiles presented by
Fig. 12d, one can observe that changing the fat layer do not change the
thermal profiles on the skin surface.
3.9. Heat convection coefficient influence
The influence of the heat convection coefficient was analyzed for
the tumor case T2. Fig. 13a shows the superficial temperatures
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453
1
khealthy = 0.21 W/(mK) khealthy = 0.21 W/(mK)
khealthy = original data 0.9 khealthy = original data
khealthy = 0.48 W/(mK) khealthy = 0.48 W/(mK)
0.8
0.7
Normalized temperatute
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm]
variations for the breasts with three different values for the heat con-
vection coefficient, h = 0.5, 5.0, and 10 W/(m2K). Such chosen values
include well insulated thermal systems and natural convection in closed
rooms [21,25]. The higher the heat convection coefficient, higher the
temperature variation observed on the breast skin surface. This is be-
cause increasing convective coefficient allows a higher convection heat
exchange between the skin and the external environment.
Fig. 13b shows the normalized temperature variations for the si-
mulated cases considering different values for h. It is observed that
there is a minimal influence of this property in the form of the nor-
malized thermal variation profile. Therefore, the estimation of the
geometric center of tumors from IR images using normalized tem-
peratures will be minimally altered by changes in convection coefficient
in the measured range.
3.10. Ambient air temperature influence
The influence of the ambient air temperature was investigated for
the tumor case T2. Fig. 14a shows the superficial temperatures varia-
tions for the breasts with three different values for the ambient air
temperature, T∞ = 15, 21, and 30 °C. Such values include a possible
temperature values in a room with and without cooling. The higher the
ambient air temperature, lower the temperature variation on the breast
skin surface. This is because increasing air temperature decreases the
convection heat exchange between the skin and the external environ-
ment.
Fig. 14b shows the normalized temperature variations for the si-
mulated cases considering different values for T∞. One can observe that
changing these parameter also do not change the normalized thermal
profiles on the skin surface.
Table 2 presents a summary of the influence of each thermophysical
property on normalized temperature profiles on the breast skin surface.
4. Conclusions
In this work, a 3D hemispherical thermal model of the breast
composed of different layers was created and analyzed to simulate IR
images at steady state. The Pennes equation that mathematically
characterizes the thermal model was solved numerically using com-
mercial software COMSOL. Breast temperatures were obtained con-
sidering several situations in order to evaluate which thermophysical
characteristics of the breast tissue (including the tumor) influence the
superficial temperature profiles on the skin (temperatures that can be
10
A.A.A. Figueiredo, et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453

35.5 35.5
σ = 2 mm σ = 2 mm
Fat Fat
σ = 5 mm σ = 5 mm
35 Fat 35 Fat
σFat = 8 mm σFat = 8 mm

34.5 34.5
Temperature [ºC]

Temperature [ºC]
34 34

33.5 33.5

33 33

32.5 32.5
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

0.3 1
σ = 2 mm σ = 2 mm
Fat Fat
σFat = 5 mm 0.9 σFat = 5 mm
0.25 σFat = 8 mm σFat = 8 mm
0.8
Temperature variation [ºC]

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.2
0.6

0.15 0.5

0.4
0.1
0.3

0.2
0.05
0.1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

Fig. 12. Variation of fat layer thickness: (a) Surface temperatures on the skin of the breast without tumor, (b) Surface temperatures on the skin of the breast with
tumor, (c) Temperature variations with and without tumor, (d) Normalization of temperature variations.

obtained by IR images). Characteristics of the tumor, such as depth,
size, metabolism, blood perfusion and thermal conductivity were varied
in such a way that it was possible to evaluate the real influence of these
on the superficial breast temperatures. A similar approach was adopted
for the characteristics of the healthy breast region, blood perfusion,
thermal conductivity and fat layer thickness were evaluated.
By changing only the tumor depth, it has been found that the nor-
malized temperature variations produced on the breast skin surface are
different. However, when only size was changed for tumors of the same
properties and centralized at the same coordinates, it was found that
the normalized temperature variations are identical. Normalizations of
temperature variations were also the same when evaluating the in-
dividual variation of metabolism, blood perfusion and thermal con-
ductivity of the tumor. Therefore, these results demonstrated that a
possible estimation of the geometric center of tumors from IR images
can be performed without necessarily prior knowledge of tumor size,
metabolism, blood perfusion and thermal conductivity.
By individually changing the blood perfusion and thermal con-
ductivity of the healthy tissue layers, it has been found that such
properties influence the profiles of normalized temperature variations
on the breast surface. However, it is possible to evaluate a delimited
region on the breast surface where these profiles have the same beha-
vior. In this way, it would also be possible to detect the geometric
center of tumors from IR images without prior knowledge of the
properties of breast tissue layers, or by not having to know exactly these
values.
The fat layer thickness was evaluated. The results show that the fat
layer thickness does not change the normalized temperature profiles, as
long as the fat layer remains constant at both healthy breast and tumor
breast temperatures.
Variations in convective coefficient and ambient air temperature
were also evaluated. Regarding the different convective coefficients
analyzed, it was observed that small differences occur on the normal-
ized temperature profiles. Thus, the convection coefficient must be the
same on images without and with tumor. The change in ambient air
temperature does not influence normalized temperature profiles on the
breast skin surface.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that by using IR imaging, even if it is
in the steady state, one have the possibility of detect and estimate
breast cancer without necessarily having to know several

11
A.A.A. Figueiredo, et al. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 111 (2020) 104453

0.3 1
h = 0.5 W/(m2 K) h = 0.5 W/(m2 K)
0.9
h = 5.0 W/(m2 K) h = 5.0 W/(m2 K)
0.25 h = 10 W/(m2 K) h = 10 W/(m2 K)
0.8
Temperature variation [°C]

0.7

Normalized temperatute
0.2
0.6

0.15 0.5

0.4
0.1
0.3

0.2
0.05
0.1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

Fig. 13. Variation of heat convection coefficient: (a) Variations in skin surface temperatures e (b) Normalized temperature variations.

0.3 1
T = 15 ºC T = 15 ºC
∞ ∞
T∞ = 21 ºC 0.9 T∞ = 21 ºC
0.25 T∞ = 30 ºC T∞ = 30 ºC
0.8
Temperature variation [°C]

0.7
Normalized temperature

0.2
0.6

0.15 0.5

0.4
0.1
0.3

0.2
0.05
0.1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 0 50 100 150 200
Arc length [mm] Arc length [mm]

Fig. 14. Variation of ambient air temperature: (a) Variations in skin surface temperatures e (b) Normalized temperature variations.

Table 2 breast cancer, thus reducing negative statistics related to the disease.
Abstract on the influence of thermophysical properties on normalized tem-
perature profiles on the breast skin surface. Acknowledgements
Tissue Properties Influence?
This study was funded in party by the Coordination for the
Tumor Depth Yes Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) - Brazil - Finance
Size No
Code 001; FAPEMIG, Minas Gerais Research Funding Foundation; and
Metabolism No
Blood perfusion No the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development
Thermal conductivity No (CNPq) - Brazil - Grand number 150661/2018-5; and the Founded by
Healthy Blood perfusion Partly the Alexander von Humboldt foundation.
Thermal conductivity Partly
Fat layer thickness No
Heat convection coefficient Partly
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