Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8649928 | Journal of Thermal Biology | 2018 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
This study presents a novel, thermoelectric cryotherapy cap that aims to provide effective and controlled scalp cooling to prevent hair loss for chemotherapy patients. The cap's design consists of multiple thermoelectric coolers (TECs) evenly spaced and bonded to a soft thermal interface material, tightly fitted to a patient's head. A numerical model is developed to assess the performance of alternative cap designs in relation to their ability to achieve hair follicle hypothermia. Under ideal conditions, 26.5â¯W of heat removal from the scalp is required to achieve the clinically-significant follicle temperature target of 22â¯Â°C. Temperature maps of the subcutaneous tissue are generated to visualise the development of hypothermic follicles, and thereby assess the effectiveness of the cap design. Transient studies show that cooling to the therapeutic temperature can be achieved within 40â¯min. To avoid the possibility of cold-induced tissue damage, individual thermoelectric cooling modules should not be operated at a cooling flux beyond approximately 3175â¯W/m2. This may be achieved with 38 modules evenly spaced in a checkerboard arrangement, each providing 0.7â¯W of cooling to the scalp.
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Authors
Mark Baldry, Victoria Timchenko, Chris Menictas,