Introduction of a Portable and Non Invasive Technology for Hand and Foot Cooling: a Preclinical Feasibility Study

Abstract

Shirin Davarpanah Jazi, Johan F. Ralf , Mohammad Fazel Bakhsheshi

Introduction: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is caused by damage to neural structures in distal limbs. CIPN can lead to reduced dose or cessation of chemotherapy. Cryotherapy has shown to be effective in reducing or preventing CIPN in the hands/feet. However, when using ice bath or ice gloves/socks there is no way to maintain the targeted temperature and prevent ice from melting. Also, patients have difficulty tolerating the freezing temperatures over long periods of chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to test the cooling performance of a recently developed non-invasive system that can ultimately replace current cooling methods.

Materials and Methods: COOLPREVENT circulates cold water at tolerable temperatures into malleable gloves/socks that does not require replacing of melted ice. We administered a cooling protocol via COOLPREVENT on three healthy subjects for 60 minutes. Immediately before and after cooling, skin temperature in the hands and feet were measured. Level of discomfort was also recorded during the cooling process.

Results: Results showed that COOLPREVENT reduces skin temperature by 14.5±3.8°C and 10.7±1.7°C in the hands and feet, respectively within 60 minutes without significant discomfort.

Conclusion: Although our study is limited by the small number of subjects and participation of healthy individuals, but we can conclude that COOLPREVENT can be a safe and appropriate method for hand and foot cooling in a uniform manner. We hope that these preliminary findings can pave the way to designing clinical trials we plan to conduct in the near future

PDF