Effects of back cooling with Peltier devices on thermoregulatory responses in a hot environment. Issue 6 (31st August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Suzurikawa, Jun; Fujimoto, Sho; Mikami, Kousei; Jonai, Hiroshi; Inoue, Takenobu
• Is Part Of: IEEJ transactions on electrical and electronic engineering. Volume 11:Issue 6(2016:Nov.)
• Page Start: 832
• Page End: 834
• Publication Date: 2016-08-31
• Subjects: hyperthermia -- spinal cord injury -- heat illness -- body cooling -- body temperature control; Electrical engineering -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Periodicals; 621.3
• DOI: 10.1002/tee.22311
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1931-4973

Abstract

Abstract : To prevent individuals with thermoregulatory dysfunction from becoming hyperthermic in a hot environment, we propose a back‐cooling (BC) system with Peltier devices mounted on a wheelchair backrest. Here, we characterize the changes in thermoregulatory responses induced by BC in order to confirm the feasibility of the proposed system. A cooling experiment in a climate chamber at 33°C with six able‐bodied subjects demonstrated that the amount of sweating and systolic blood pressure were significantly lower in the BC trials than in the no‐cooling trials, providing preliminary evidence that BC can partially replace thermoregulatory responses and reduce the heat burden. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.