Thermoregulating

hat for post-

cardiovascular surgery patients
undergoing rewarming.

By Rachel McRae- s3381396

Major A Research Proposal- MANU1459




Abstract
Across the world, over 700,000 heart surgeries take place each year affecting
patients as young as infants to the elderly. Despite this large number, the chance
of a patient dying from this type of surgery has decreased form 2.6% in 2004 to
1.5% in 2008. However, these deaths usually take place after the surgery has
been complete, and in some cases, during the rewarming process. Rewarming is
a delicate process becoming more frequent in modern medicine. It can be used in
a wide range of circumstances however; this study will specifically focus on the
rewarming process used after adult and elderly patients undergo open -heart
surgery.
An old myth from the U.S Army Field Manual states that 40-45% of the bodys
heat is lost through an exposed scalp. Keeping this is mind, when a patient is
being rewarmed their head is also left exposed meaning that a significant
amount of heat is lost this way. It is preferred that the head is left uncovered
during and sometimes after surgery as there is a risk that the patient will over
heat, resulting in brain damage. However, with the right materials there is an
opportunity to create a hat that will thermoregulate the patients core
temperature, assisting in rewarming the patient gradually and safely.
This proposal will look at current materials used in medical textiles and explain
thermoregulation and its importance. The knowledge learnt through this
research will contribute to creating a hat that will assist with the rewarming
process by reducing the amount of heat lost through the patients scalp while also
using technical textiles to control thermophysiological comfort of the patient.
Deep research will also be presented in this report about textiles that are already
being used in medicine. This will assist in understanding how certain fibres react
with a patients body in a medical situation while also identifying the importance
of fabric structure and design.
The current methods of rewarming patients have been used for many years and
some of these practices do not effectively rewarm the patient as well as they
should or the practices may be outdated. This report will discuss theses methods
and determine how effective they are in todays modern medicine, while also
comparing them to the proposed solution.
Overall, with the research and knowledge gained from this project, a logical and
feasible approach to solving this problem will be obtained. Ultimately, through
the production of simply a hat.
















Aims

The aim of this project is to create a hat that will assist in steadily rewarming a
patient that has undergone cardiovascular surgery at a safe and gradual rate in
order to prevent any damage to the patient as well as any future deficiencies.
The aim is for this hat to pass all requirements and standards needed for textiles
in medicine, including being non-toxic, non-allergenic and non- carcinogenic,
while also being an affordable product that can be disposable and can also be
introduced into hospitals.