An non-planar microfluidic cooling device for body weight loss and obesity prevention in rat models

人体在早期发育阶段产生白色和棕色脂肪组织。棕色脂肪细胞（Brown Fat Cells） 脂肪组织（BAT））用于通过产热活动（即， 棕色脂肪的代谢燃烧以加热）。刺激身体产生更多棕色脂肪的想法， 将更多的卡路里转化为热量对于并发肥胖症来说变得非常有吸引力。已经显示 暴露于低温可有效地刺激棕色脂肪产生和产热的速率。 Spark Innovations有兴趣研究BAT在肥胖大鼠动物模型中的产热作用，并利用已开发的知识为人类设计减肥设备。为此，该公司需要一种冷却背心技术，该技术允许对身体的特定区域进行热刺激（即，在5 - 15 ℃的范围内对大鼠的肩胛间BAT）进行测量。本项目拟开发的新型冷却装置将是无绳的，并允许准确（95%）和精确（± 1 ℃）的热刺激、温度均匀性（<1 ℃，6 cm 2）、间歇性（约0.25 - 3小时）热循环和物理灵活性，以符合皮肤的形状，实现有效的热交换。为了实现这一装置，三个目标，在两个研究 将分阶段进行：1）开发具有高导热性、低比热容和柔性的复合聚合物，用于复制模塑成与皮肤相符的非平面层，从而产生有效的热接触; 2）开发轻质、小规模、电池操作的微流体温度调制器;以及3）将导热非平面层与热调制单元集成并对其进行测试。

The human body at early developmental stages produces white and brown fat tissues. Brown fat cells (Brown Adipose Tissues (BAT)) are used for keeping specific regions of the body warm via thermogenic activities (i.e., metabolic burning of brown fat to heat). The idea of stimulating the body to produce more brown fat and hence convert more calories to heat has become very appealing for concurring obesity. It has been shown that exposure to cold temperatures can effectively stimulate the rate of brown fat production and thermogenesis. Spark Innovations is interested in studying BAT thermogenesis in rat animal models of obesity and using the developed knowledge to devise weight loss devices for humans. For this, the company requires a cooling vest technology that allows for thermal stimulation of specific regions of the body (i.e., interscapular BAT) of the rats in the range of 5-15C. The novel cooling device that is proposed to be developed in this project will be cord-less and allow for accurate (95%) and precise (±1C) thermal stimulation, temperature uniformity (<1C over 6cm2), intermittent (~0.25-3hr) thermal cycling, and physical flexibility to conform to the shape of the skin for efficient heat exchange. To achieve this device, three objectives during two research phases will be pursued: 1) Development of a composite polymer with high thermal conductivity, low specific heat capacity, and flexibility for replication molding into a non-planar layer that conforms to the skin making an efficient thermal contact; 2) Development of a light-weight, small-scale, battery-operated microfluidic temperature modulator; and 3) Integration of the thermally conductive non-planar layer with the thermal modulation unit and its testing.