It is well known that driving while fatigued is dangerous and can lead to serious traffic accidents. However, there is a lack of studies on the mechanism of fatigue. This paper sought to infer changes in the cardiovascular system through hand and head skin temperature peripheral factors via an integrated lumped parameter model. A multi-layer inner structure with variable blood perfusion was used to construct a full-body thermal model. The cardiovascular system model provided blood perfusion using lumped parameters. The peripheral resistance and heart rate in the cardiovascular system model were adjusted to match the experimental temperatures of the head and hands obtained from induced fatigue experiments. The simulation results showed that the heart rate and blood pressure decreased, and the peripheral skin resistance of the hands and head increased after fatigue. A decrease in heart rate and an increase in peripheral resistance affect the magnitude of blood flow to the periphery of the body, leading to a decrease in skin temperature during fatigue. The present integrated model elucidates a key effect of human fatigue on the cardiovascular system, which is expected to help improve the accuracy of fatigue monitoring systems.
Keywords: cardiovascular system; fatigue; heat transfer; lumped parameter; peripheral resistances.