Frontal cortex cooling and modulation of brain frequencies using a wearable Peltier device

• Muhammad Danish Mujib , Ahmad Zahid Rao, Muhammad Abul Hasan, Ayesha Ikhlaq, Saeed Ahmad Buzdar, Saad Ahmed Qazi

Heatstroke occurs when brain's thermoregulation mechanism fails, resulting in hyperthermia leading to disability and death if untreated within first half hour. To prevent heatstroke, a temperature-controlled Peltier-based Wearable Head Cooling Device (WHCD) is developed for providing cooling to the frontal cortex region of the brain. Thirty volunteers tested WHCD in three groups for three 6-min trials with a 2-min resting period. Group A, B, and C were given stimulation with WHCD, noise, and WHCD with noise, respectively. Testing WHCD for perceived stress and usability, revealed a low stress score with an acceptable usability. Applying ANOVA and post-hoc analysis, the brain's power spectral density from electroencephalography found greatest increase in α-frequency and decrease in θ-frequency for group A, followed by group C, while group B indicated opposite change in both frequency bands. In conclusion, the WHCD can be effective for heatstroke prevention by modulating the brain to a relaxed state.