The Cardiovascular System
The cardiovascular system is the key system by which heat is distributed throughout the body. The blood serves as the vehicle to transport heat from the areas of high heat to areas of lower heat. In general this transfer takes place in the direction from body core to extremities such as the limbs and head. In the case where the extremities are hotter than the core body temperature, perfusion would serve to transport heat from the extremity back towards the body core. Whether or not the core temperature rises depends on many factors such as the duration of elevated local temperature at the extremity, temperature difference between extremity and core, volume of blood heated above core temperature, and the rate of blood perfusion. This same moderating phenomena of blood perfusion can be applied to local heat transfer problems e.g. heating of a tumor.
Read more about this topic: Bioheat Transfer
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable of living in this way. Therefore not only does the system alienate humanity, but at the same time alienated humanity supports this system as its own involuntary masterplan, as a degenerate image of its own degeneration, as a record of people’s own failure as individuals.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)