title: Simulation of scalp cooling by external devices for prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
abstract: Hypothermia of the scalp tissue during chemotherapy treatment (scalp cooling) has been shown to reduce or prevent chemotherapy-induced hair loss. In this study, numerical models are developed to investigate the interaction between different types of external scalp cooling devices and the human scalp tissue. This work focuses on improving methods of modeling scalp cooling devices as it relates specifically to the prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia. First, the cooling power needed for any type of device to achieve therapeutic levels of scalp hypothermia is investigated. Subsequently, two types of scalp cooling devices are simulated: a pre-cooled/frozen cap design and a liquid-cooled cap design. For an average patient, simulations show that 38.5W of heat must be extracted from the scalp tissue for this therapy in order to cool the hair follicle to 22°C. In practice, the cooling power must be greater than this amount to account for thermal losses of the device. Simulations show that pre-cooled and liquid-cooled cap designs result in different tissue temperatures over the course of the procedure. However, it is the temperature of the coolant that largely determines the resulting tissue temperature. Simulations confirm that the thermal resistance of the hair/air layer has a large impact on the resulting tissue temperatures. The results should be correlated with experimental data as an effort to determine the optimal parameter choices for this model.
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, United States. Electronic address: bpliskow2013@my.fit.edu.
authors: Bradley
authors: B
authors: Pliskow
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, United States. Electronic address: kmitra@fit.edu.
authors: Kunal
authors: K
authors: Mitra
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 West University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, United States. Electronic address: mkaya@fit.edu.
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Kaya
mesh_terms: D000505:Alopecia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001831:Body Temperature; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007036:Hypothermia, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012535:Scalp / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Alopecia; Chemotherapy; Devices; Numerical model; Scalp cooling