EAGER: Analysis of Thermoelectric On-Site Cooling Devices for Therapeutic Applications

CBET-1250659PI：Diller该项目的动机是需要大幅提高我们实施冷却疗法的质量和安全性，有可能挽救数千人的生命，每年消除数千人因设备造成的伤害。进行这项研究的机会是由两项重大技术突破创造的。一方面，皮？S实验室发现了如何应用生理学原理在身体核心和皮肤表面之间按需创造大量热流用于治疗目的，以及如何打破与组织降温疗法相关的深部缺血链，这可能会导致缺血诱导的损伤。另一方面，最近在开发新的热电材料方面取得了重大进展，使设备能够以比过去高得多的效率运行。因此，首次有可能将热电模块直接应用于治疗场所的表面，取消了与外部冰箱和循环水管道的传统连接，以提供冷却治疗。在医疗冷却所需的温度下，热电材料可以产生约1.0的优值系数ZT，足以产生足够的热流率。复杂的三维解剖部位的覆盖将通过将小型热电模块的矩阵固定在灵活的、导热的衬底上来实现。每个模块都将有一个热传感器来提供反馈信号，这些信号可以用来为专门设计的治疗方案在时间和空间上调节冷却效果。一项工程挑战将是提供连接和控制，以协调操作模块矩阵的所有元素。受试者将被用仪器监测表面和核心温度以及重要的生理特性，包括热传递部位的皮肤血液流动。热电设备的性能将从与医疗应用的适应性以及控制生理温度和血液流动的能力方面进行评估。该项目将应用热电模块来制造和测试制冷系统，这些制冷系统可以直接在人体表面的某个区域用于治疗降温。这种能力可用于治疗中风、心脏病发作或脑震荡等可能导致大脑缺氧危及生命的医疗疾病，并可用于治疗软组织损伤。这种类型的设备将比目前任何可用的替代设备更安全、更容易使用，它的设计尺寸小、重量轻、功耗低，以便救护车上的急救人员使用它，以便在时间紧迫的情况下尽早开始治疗。该项目的成功完成将使设计和执行比以往任何时候都更有效的降温疗法成为可能，并每年可以拯救数千人的生命。

CBET - 1250659PI: DillerThis project is motivated by the need to substantially improve the quality and safety of our ability to administer cooling therapy, with the potential to save thousands of lives and eliminate thousands of device-induced injuries annually. The opportunity to conduct this research has been created by two major technical breakthroughs. On the one hand, the PI?s laboratory has discovered how to apply physiological principles to on demand create large heat flows between the body core and the skin surface for therapeutic purposes, and also how to break the chain of deep ischemia associated with tissue cooling therapy that can lead to ischemic-induced injury. On the other hand, there have recently been significant advances in developing new thermoelectric materials that enable devices to operate with much higher efficiencies than in the past. As a consequence, for the first time it is possible to apply thermoelectric modules directly to the surface of a treatment site, doing away with the traditional connections to an external refrigerator and circulating water lines to provide cooling therapy. At the temperatures requisite for medical cooling, thermoelectric materials can produce a figure of merit ZT of about 1.0 that is sufficient to generate adequate heat flow rates. Coverage of complex three-dimensional anatomic sites will be achieved with a matrix of small thermoelectric modules affixed to a flexible, thermally conductive substrate. Each module will have a thermal sensor to provide feedback signals that can be used to modulate the cooling effect in both time and space for specifically designed therapeutic protocols. An engineering challenge will be to provide the connectivity and control to operate all elements of the module matrix in concert. Subjects will be instrumented to monitor surface and core temperatures along with important physiological properties including skin blood flow at the heat transfer site. Performance of the thermoelectric device will be assessed in terms of compatibility with adaptation to medical applications and the ability to control physiological temperatures and blood flow. This project will apply thermoelectric modules to fabricate and test refrigeration systems that can be used directly on an area of the body surface for therapeutic cooling. The capability can be used to treat medical conditions such as a stroke, heart attack, or concussion that can cause a life threatening lack of oxygen to the brain and to treat soft tissue injuries. This type of device will be safer and easier to use than any currently available alternatives, and it is designed for small size, light weight, and low power consumption to allow it to be used by first responders in ambulances so that treatments can be started early when time is of the essence. Successful completion of this project would enable more effective cooling therapies to be designed and executed than have ever before been possible and could save thousands of lives annually.