Long term tests and failure simulation in a device for head cooling of newborns
Mariane Dutra Turaça1; Tiago Lewandowski1; Durval Batista Palhares2; Marco Hiroshi Naka3
1 UCDB - Universidade Católica Dom Bosco; 2 UFMS - Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; 3 UCDB - Universidade Católica Dom Bosco e IFMS - Istituto Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul
doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2408
Resumo
Devices to cooling the head have been used to reduce cerebral metabolism and also to prevent future brain damages in newborns with perinatal asphyxia. The treatment for a mild hypothermia takes about 72 hours. Thus, the cooling system efficiency of this device as well as the safety are very important aspects. This work presents the results of tests for the simulation of possible failures in a device to cooling the head with thermal plates, which was developed by the authors of this work. Long term tests were also done to simulate a clinical application. A structure of temperature sensors was created to measure room temperature and also the temperature between the skin of the newborn and the thermoelectric plates of the device. Failures were simulated in order to evaluate the behavior of the thermal plates. The security system prevented that the heat flows to the cold side, since it would create a contrary result, the heating of the newborns head. Preliminary tests show the confiability of the device for clinical application and the safety system has proved itself efficient.
Palavras-chave: Cool cap; Long term tests; Thermoelectric plates