title: Research: Testing of a Novel Portable Body Temperature Conditioner Using a Thermal Manikin.
abstract: A battery-operated active cooling/heating device was developed to maintain thermoregulation of trauma victims in austere environments while awaiting evacuation to a hospital for further treatment. The use of a thermal manikin was adopted for this study in order to simulate load testing and evaluate the performance of this novel portable active cooling/heating device for both continuous (external power source) and battery power. The performance of the portable body temperature conditioner (PBTC) was evaluated through cooling/heating fraction tests to analyze the heat transfer between a thermal manikin and circulating water blanket to show consistent performance while operating under battery power. For the cooling/heating fraction tests, the ambient temperature was set to 15°C ± 1°C (heating) and 30°C ± 1°C (cooling). The PBTC water temperature was set to 37°C for the heating mode tests and 15°C for the cooling mode tests. The results showed consistent performance of the PBTC in terms of cooling/heating capacity while operating under both continuous and battery power. The PBTC functioned as intended and shows promise as a portable warming/cooling device for operation in the field.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moujaes
authors.forename: Shelley J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sarkisian
authors.forename: Kaveh
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khalili
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rockenfeller
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Browder
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kuhls
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fildes
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006361:Heating / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008348:Manikins; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012881:Skin Temperature