INTRODUCTION OF
THERMAL AGENTS
DEFINITION OF HEAT
The transfer of energy from one body to another
as a result of a difference in temperature or a
change in phase.
DEFINITION OF TEMPERATURE
The sensation or perception of such energy as
warmth or hotness.
The degree of hotness or coldness of a body or
environment.
Superficial thermal agents are those that primarily
change the temperature of the skin and of superficial
subcutaneous tissue.
Deep heating agents increase the temperature of deeper
tissue including large muscles and periarticular
structures and generally reach to a depth of about 5cm.
The therapeutic application of thermal agents results in
the transfer of heat to or from a patient’s body and
between tissues and fluid of the body.
Heat transfer occurs by
1- Conduction
2- Convection
3- Conversion
4- Radiation
5- Evaporation
Heating agents transfer heat to the body whereas
cooling agents transfer heat away from the body.
Thermoregulation by the body uses to maintain
core body temperature and to maintain
equilibrium between internal metabolic heat
production and heat loss or gain at the skin
surface.
SPECIFIC HEAT:
Specific heat is the amount of energy required to
raise the temperature of a given weight of a
material by a given number of degrees.
The specific heat of different materials and body
tissues differs.
For example:
Skin has higher specific heat than fat or bone.
Water has higher specific heat than air.
Materials with high specific heat require more
energy to heat up and hold more energy at a
given temperature than materials with low
specific heat
MODE OF HEAT
TRANSFER
1-CONDUCTION:
Heating by conduction is the result of energy
exchange by direct collision between the
molecules of two materials at different
temperatures
Heat is conducted from the material at the
higher temperature to the material at the lower
temperature as faster moving molecules in the
warmer material collide.
With molecules in the cooler material causing
them to accelerate.
Heat transfer continues until the temperature and
the speed of molecular movement of both
materials become equal.
Heat transfer by conduction occurs only between
materials of different temperatures that are in
direct contact with each other.
e.g hot pack and paraffin transfer heat by
conduction
RATE OF HEAT TRANSFER:
The rate of heat transfer depends on the temperature
difference between the materials, their thermal conductivity
and their area of contact.
GUIDELINES FOR HEAT TRANSFER BY
CONDUCTION:
The greater the temperature difference between a heating and
cooling agent and the body part it is applied to the faster the
rate of heat transfer for e.g the higher the temperature of a
hot pack the more rapidly the temperature of the area of the
patient’s skin in contact with the hot pack will increase.
Material with high thermal conductivity transfer heat
faster than those with low thermal conductivity water
has moderate thermal conductivity and air has low
thermal conductivity.
Heating and cooling agents generally are composed of
materials with moderate thermal conductivity to provide
a safe and effective rate of heat transfer.
Material with low thermal conductivity can be used as
insulators to limit the rate of heat transfer.
If the pack is applied directly to a patients skin,
the patient probably will soon feel
uncomfortably hot and could easily be burned.
Therefore towel or terry cloth hot pack covers
that trap air which has low thermal conductivity
are placed between the pack and the patient to
limit the rate of heat transfer usually 6 to 8 layer
of toweling are placed between hot pack and
patient
Metal has high thermal conductivity , metal jewelry should be
removed from any area that will be in contact with a conductive
thermal agent.
The larger the area of contact between a thermal agent and
patient the greater the heat transfer .
The rate of temperature rise decreases in proportion to tissue
thickness ,skin temperature increases the most and deeper tissue
are progressively less effective
Conductive thermal agents are used for heating and cooling
superficial tissue.
2-CONVECTION:
Heat transfer by convection occur as the result of direct contact
between a circulating medium and another material of different
temperature.
As a result heat transfer by convection transfer more heat in the
same period of time than heat transfer by conduction.
Circulating blood helps to keep local body temperature at base line .
The risk of thermal injury is increased when circulation is impaired.
E.g. whirlpools and fluido-therapy transfer heat by convection
3-CONVERSION:
Heat transfer by conversion involves a non thermal form of energy
such as mechanical , electrical or chemical energy in to heat.
In Ultrasound a mechanical form of energy is converted in to heat.
When using diathermy an electromagnetic energy is converted in to
heat .
4-RADIATION:
Heating by radiation involves the direct transfer of energy from a
material with a higher temperature to one with a lower
temperature without the need for an intervening medium or
contact.
The rate of temperature increase caused by radiation depends on
the intensity of the radiation the relative size of the radiation
source and the area being treated ,the distance of the Source from
the treatment area and the angle of the radiation to the tissue.
e.g infra red lamp transfer heat by radiation.
5-EVAPORATION:
A material must absorb energy to evaporate and
thus change form from a liquid to a gas or vapor.
This energy is absorbed in the form of heat
derived from the material itself or from an
adjoining material resulting in a decrease in
temperature .
For e.g. when a vapo-coolant spray is heated by
the warm skin of the body it changes from its
liquid form to a vapor at its specific evaporation
temperature . During this process the spray
absorbs heat and thus cools the skin.
REFFERENCE:
Clayton’s electrotherapy
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