Description:
The use of cytotoxic agents in chemotherapy of cancer patients usually lead to hair loss, which can be prevented by cooling the scalp of the patient. Constriction of blood vessels in the scalp reduces the level of drug absorption by the hair follicles.
For this purpose tight-fitting gel caps have been devised that can be pre-chilled and placed over the scalp to cool the patient's head. However, dry hair serves as an effective insulator against heat loss and constant replacement of gel caps during therapy causes painful hair pulling.
This scalp cooling aid comprises a cooling cap that is manufactured from thermally conductive polymer containing an array of protrusions, which are spaced evenly across the interior of the cap. The protrusions ensure that hair strands are parted thereby ensuring direct contact of the cap with the scalp.
A flexible gel cap that is pre-frozen is placed over the cooling cap to extract any heat absorbed by the cooling cap from the scalp. Since only the gel cap is replaced while the cooling cap remains in place the patient does experiences any discomfort from hair being pulled.
|
Download patent application by inventor
(PDF - 981 KB)
|
