Determination of thermal conductivities of biological tissue protein

Thermal conductivities of biological tissue protein including normal protein and denatured protein were determined over the temperature range 0°C and 37°C using the tiny thermal probe method. The tiny thermal probe system had the advantages of high accuracy, a short test time, a low temperature rise and little water removal. The results showed that the thermal conductivities of the samples were found to increase with temperature both in the normal protein state and in the denatured protein state. The average value of thermal conductivities of normal proteins and denatured proteins were 0.503 W·m^-1K^-1 and 0.533 W·m^-1K^-1, respectively. The thermal conductivities of denatured proteins were higher than that of normal proteins. The tiny thermal probe method of thermal conductivity measurement was found to give accurate and consistent results.