Seizure control with thermal energy? Modeling of heat diffusivity in brain tissue and computer-based design of a prototype mini-cooler

Osorio, Ivan; Chang, F. C.; Gopalsami, N.

doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.08.014

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…One study of 4 patients with refractory status epilepticus showed benefit of endovascular cooling in terms of seizures, but 1 of the patients died of sepsis, possibly related to hypothermia 41. A cooling microprobe to be inserted into tissue has been developed 42. The major barriers to a practical cooling device are cooling sulci and deep brain tissue, dissipating heat, and difficulty in obtaining an adequate portable power supply.…”

Section: Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic devices for epilepsy

Fisher

2012

Annals of Neurology

113

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Therapeutic devices provide new options for treating drug-resistant epilepsy. These devices act by a variety of mechanisms to modulate neuronal activity. Only vagus nerve stimulation, which continues to develop new technology, is approved for use in the United States. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of anterior thalamus for partial epilepsy recently was approved in Europe and several other countries. Responsive neurostimulation, which delivers stimuli to one or two seizure foci in response to a detected seizure, recently completed a successful multicenter trial. Several other trials of brain stimulation are in planning or underway. Transcutaneous magnetic stimulation (TMS) may provide a noninvasive method to stimulate cortex. Controlled studies of TMS split on efficacy, and may depend on whether a seizure focus is near a possible region for stimulation. Seizure detection devices in the form of “shake” detectors via portable accelerometers can provide notification of an ongoing tonic-clonic seizure, or peace of mind in the absence of notification. Prediction of seizures from various aspects of EEG is in early stages. Prediction appears to be possible in a subpopulation of people with refractory seizures and a clinical trial of an implantable prediction device is underway. Cooling of neocortex or hippocampus reversibly can attenuate epileptiform EEG activity and seizures, but engineering problems remain in its implementation. Optogenetics is a new technique that can control excitability of specific populations of neurons with light. Inhibition of epileptiform activity has been demonstrated in hippocampal slices, but use in humans will require more work. In general, devices provide useful palliation for otherwise uncontrollable seizures, but with a different risk profile than with most drugs. Optimizing the place of devices in therapy for epilepsy will require further development and clinical experience.

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Section: Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Therapeutic devices for epilepsy

Fisher

2012

Annals of Neurology

113

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“…Natural convection heat transfer from the head due to the difference between the surface temperature and ambient temperature is a phenomenon that the human body has always faced and has been the subject of various medical and vital considerations [16][17][18][19]. In this phenomenon, during the heat transfer from head to the environment, adjacent air becomes warmer, its density decreases and moves upward [20].…”

Section: Governing Equations For the Air Flow Around The Headmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer from Three-dimensional Model of Human Head in Different Environmental Conditions

Hatami¹,

Bayareh²

2019

IJHT

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In this paper, the heat transfer from a human's three-dimensional head, exposed to the wind blowing and constant vertical heat flux of the sun is investigated. The model is simplified due to the complexity of the head and tissues of the human head. The air velocity is 2.5 m/s (9 km/h) and the heat flux is 1423 W/m 2 for the geographic conditions of Iran. The quick scheme is used to solve momentum and energy equations and SIMPLE algorithm is employed for coupling the velocity and pressure. The results demonstrate that the heat transfers from the brain to the skin surface over time and gradually leads to an increase in the surrounding temperature. It is found that the maximum temperature is related to the brain tissue for the case of natural convection heat transfer. By considering the forced convection heat transfer and the effect of radiation, it is revealed that the maximum temperature corresponds to the top of the head. The forehead (hair growth location) has significant higher temperature in the presence of incident heat flux and wind blowing than the case of natural convection heat transfer.

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“…The properties used for the cooling device’s model were the same as those used for free space operation, and the brain model was built using a material with the characteristics shown in Table 1 [ 22 , 41 ].…”

Section: Cooling Device Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To sum up, thermal neuromodulation, despite its reported benefits, is not used as much as expected, mainly because the available cooling devices are, in general, too large for practical use, even for research purposes [ 22 ]. Such devices are far from being suited for permanent use in humans, or for testing with monkeys or rodents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Performance Assessment of a Solid-State Microcooler for Thermal Neuromodulation

et al. 2018

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It is well known that neural activity can be modulated using a cooling device. The applications of this technique range from the treatment of medication-resistant cerebral diseases to brain functional mapping. Despite the potential benefits of such technique, its use has been limited due to the lack of suitable thermal modulators. This paper presents the design and validation of a solid-state cooler that was able to modulate the neural activity of rodents without the use of large and unpractical water pipes. A miniaturized thermal control solution based exclusively on solid-state devices was designed, occupying only 5 mm × 5 mm × 3 mm, and featuring the potential for wireless power and communications. The cold side of the device was cooled to 26 °C, while the hot side was kept below 43 °C. This range of temperatures is compatible with brain cooling and efficient enough for achieving some control of neural activity.

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Seizure control with thermal energy? Modeling of heat diffusivity in brain tissue and computer-based design of a prototype mini-cooler

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Therapeutic devices for epilepsy

Therapeutic devices for epilepsy

Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer from Three-dimensional Model of Human Head in Different Environmental Conditions

Design and Performance Assessment of a Solid-State Microcooler for Thermal Neuromodulation

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