Abstract
The use of a controlled cooling therapy may help in pain management and pain treatment, for example, of carpal tunnel syndrome. The article deals with possibilities and design of the control system and user interface for Peltier-based cooling module for braces. The experimental brace fixing the hand in the carpal region was designed to verify the control system of cooling forearm orthosis. This brace was fitted with 3 thermoelectric modules. The users can select their own cooling intervals, cooling intensity, or the set periods of required cooling with respect to the presumed battery lifespan. The verification of the system was performed on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome during 60-min measurement. The proposed wearable system has proven to be useful in the field of rehabilitation, but also reveals some limitations of using fans as tools for heat transfer, e.g. if it is necessary to cool larger areas, the energy consumption for cooling increases and portable batteries have limited usability and external sources of electricity must be assumed.
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This work was supported by technology agency of Czech Republic, project no. TG02010033.
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Kutilek, P. et al. (2021). Control System and User Interface of Cooling Module for Braces. In: Jarm, T., Cvetkoska, A., Mahnič-Kalamiza, S., Miklavcic, D. (eds) 8th European Medical and Biological Engineering Conference. EMBEC 2020. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 80. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64610-3_34
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64610-3_34
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