ME 423: Machine Design 

 
 

Design of Scalp Cooling systems for preventing  

Alopecia during Chemotherapy 
 
 

Guide - ​Prof. Ramesh Singh 

Mentor - Ravinder Suttar 
 
 
 

Group Number 15 

 
 
 
Tejas Ladhe  17D100014 
Mohd Zakir Hussain  17D100015 

Swaraj Pawar  17D100012 

Hritik Sagar  170100114 

Audi Vihaari  170100085 

 Table of Content 
 

1.​Execute Summary 3 

2. Problem Statement 3 

3. Proposed solution 3 
3.1 Chiller Box 4 
3.2 Cooling Cap 5 
3.3 Heat Exchanger 5 
3.4 Circulation Pipes 5 
3.5 Pump 6 

4. Material Selection: 6 
4.1 Primary Cap 6 
4.2 Secondary Cap 6 
4.3 Water blocks 6 
4.4 Pipes 7 
4.5 Liquid-1 7 
4.6 Liquid-2 7 
4.7 Heat Exchanger 7 

5. Thermal Analysis: 8 
5.1 For Cap 8 
5.2 Chiller Box 9 
5.3 Heat Exchanger 10 
5.4 Calculations 11 

6. Manufacturing Drawing  12

7. ​Simulation 1​2 

8​. ​Bill of Materials and costing 1​3 

9​. ​Conclusions 14 

10​. References 14 

Contribution Table 1​5 

 

   
1. Executive Summary 
A  common side effect of chemotherapy is transient alopecia (hair loss), in addition to bone marrow 
suppression  and  gastrointestinal  disturbances.  Chemotherapy  works  by  targeting  all  rapidly 
dividing  cells  in  the  body.  Hair  is  the  second  fastest  dividing  cell  in  the body and this is the reason 
why  many  chemotherapy  drugs  cause  hair  loss.  Extreme  hair  loss  typically  begins  at  1-3  weeks 
after  the  first  dose,  depending  on  the  agent,  and  becomes  clinically  evident  after  multiple 
treatment cycles. Alopecia exists in a large proportion of patients on docetaxel-based treatment.  
 
For  a  patient,  chemotherapy-induced  alopecia  is  very  distressing  and  can  have  an  effect  on 
treatment  decisions.  Fortunately,  it  has  been  found  in  the  experiments  that  cooling  the  scalp 
(~18°C)  during  the  chemotherapy  reduces  the possibility of Alopecia (Hair loss) [link]. We decided 
to  build  a  patient  friendly,  lightweight  device  based  on  conclusions  of  Scalp  Cooling  researches, 
which  can  reduce  the  chances  of  hair  loss  during  chemotherapies.  This report explains the details 
of  designing  criteria  of  the  device,  calculations,  CAD  Models,  simulations  results  and  conclusions 
of a proposed scalp cooling system based on solid-state cooling technique.  

 
2. Problem Statement 
For the desired results, we require a cooling device with the following properties: 
1. Consistently maintain scalp temperature around 18°C during the chemotherapy session 
2. Light  weight:  during  the  operation,  head  wearable  part  of  the  device  should weigh within 
0.5 kg  
3. The part of device in contact with the coolant should be chemically resistant to it 
4. Thermal Efficient: Coolant should absorb minimum heat from the surrounding 
5. Mechanically Efficient: Low wear, and tear, for high reliability, long life and reusability 
6. Energy Efficient: To decrease the cost of operation during the long chemotherapy sessions  
 

3. Proposed Solution - Design Specifications and 

Manufacturing Drawings 
The  device  consists  of  a  wearable  cap  connected  to  a  chiller  box  which  circulates  freshly  cooled 
fluid  to  the  cap  and  residual  heated  fluid  to  a  heat  exchanger.  This  chiller  box  consists  of  4  TEC1 
12715 modules and two water blocks. There are two liquids flowing, liquid-1 and liquid-2, in loop 1 
and  loop  2  respectively  using  the  two  pumps.  The  liquid-2  is  used  to  cool  the scalp and is in touch 
with  the  cool  side  of  the  TEC.  Whereas  the  liquid-1  is  used  to  cool  the  hot  side  of  the  TEC  and 
dumps heat to the surroundings through the heat exchanger.   
 Figure 1: Device components (Not the actual design and setting) 
 

 
 
 
The following are in depth design specification of the device: 

3.1 Chiller Box 

First iteration:
This consists of 3 channels, two exterior channels
for hot flow and one internal channel for cold flow
and 4 peltier sides attached to the channels face
respectively to transfer heat.
Problems faced - 
● Design  was  inefficient  to  reduce  the 
temperature  of  coolant  flowing  in  the  middle 
channel 
● For  required  heat  transfer,  the  coolant 
required  large  flow  time  over  the  fins  which  was 
practically  not  possible,  as  a  user  would  want  the 
device to rapidly decrease the scalp temperature 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2nd Iteration 
The  chiller  box  consists  of  three  independent  chambers,  say  coolant  chamber  for  loop-2  carrying 
Liquid-2 and remaining for circulating residual liquid, Liquid-1 
 

3.2 Cooling Cap 

The  Cooling  cap  is  stretchable  and  designed  to carry coolant which lowers the temperature of the 
inner  side  of  the  cap  which  in  return  cools  the  scalp.  It  consists  of  flow  channels  to  uniformly 
distribute coolant over the head surface so that heat is taken out evenly from the head surface and 
is  covered  by  a  secondary  thermally  insulated  cap  which  minimises  the  heat  absorption  from  the 
surrounding. 

 
 
3.3 Heat Exchanger 
The  purpose  of  the  heat  exchanger  is to reduce the temperature of residual fluid (liquid-2) coming 
and  going  to  the  chiller  box  to  reduce  heat  of  the  hot  side  of  the  TEC.  We  have  installed  fans  to 
accelerate the heat transfer rate for better performance. 
● Dimensions (LxWxH): 517x124x29.5mm
● Connection threads: 2 x G1/4 "
● Mounting thread size: M3
● Shroud height: 6mm both sides

Radiator core modeled:

● 15mm x 2mm copper tubes (x12)
● ~16 Fins Per Inch 
 
Fans -  
● 4x120 mm design 
 
 
 

3.4 Circulation Pipes 

There  are  two  closed  loops  made  from  the 
circulation  pipes,  first  between  cap  and 
chiller  box  via  pump-1,  and  second between 
heat  exchanger  and  chiller  box  via  pump-2.  The  pipe-2  is  6  mm  inner  radius  with  9 mm  thickness 
and  2  m  long,  made  of  Foam  Heat  Insulated  Tube,  and  weighing  50  grams.[4] The pipe-1 is  6 mm 
inner radius 2 m long with 2 mm thickness regular pipe. 

3.5 Pump 
There  are  two  pumps  connected  to  the  chiller  box,  the  first  pump  is  used  to  circulate the liquid-1 
between  the  chiller  box  and  heat  exchanger  whereas  the  second  pump  is  used  to  circulate  the 
liquid-2  between  cap  and  chiller  box.  The  pipes  carrying  liquid-2  coming  out  of the two chambers 
of  the  chiller  box  get  merged  into  a  single  pipe before liquid-2 enters the pump. In this project, we 
have  defined  the  flow  speed  of  liquid  1&2  to  be  constant  at  0.1  m  per  sec  and  hence  didn’t  look 
into the design of the pump used.  
4. Material Selection: 

4.1 Primary Cap 

Primary  Cap  is  required  to  be  flexible,  stretchable,  lightweight  and  thermally conductive. Silicone 
rubber  has  all  these  required  properties.  Also  while  setting  the  rubber,  its  thermal  conductivity 
can  be  increased  by  mixing  powdered  metal  in  the  Gel  +  Hardener  mixture.  Required  thermal 
conductivity  is  0.133  W/m-K,  whereas  common  silicone  rubbers  can  provide  thermal 
conductivities  upto  1.2  W/m-K.  Some  special  and  costly  silicone  rubbers  have  thermal 
conductivities upto 4.3 W/m-K. 

4.2 Secondary Cap 

The  device  requires  a  secondary  cap  to  minimize  the  heat  transfer  from  surrounding  to  the 
primary  cap  made  of  silicon then to liquid-2. Apart from being insulating, this secondary cap needs 
to  be  light,  flexible,  durable,  and  cheap.  We  know  that  wool  fibers  trap  air  pockets,  making  it 
insulating  and  at  the  same  time,  and  are  extremely  durable  and  flexible;  they  can  be  bent  up  to 
20,000  times  without  breaking.  In  comparison,  cotton  fibers  break  after  3,000  bends,  silk  fibers 
after  2,000  bends,  and  rayon  fibers  after  only  75  bends.  Also,  wool  maintains  its  insulating 
properties even when wet.  

4.3 Water blocks 

Water  blocks  are  required  to  efficiently  extract/transfer  heat  from  TEC  surfaces.  Mode  of  heat 
transfer  is  conduction  only,  so  the  material  of  the  water  block  must  have  high  thermal 
conductivity.  Selected  material  is  copper  as  it  is  an  obvious  candidate  for  this  purpose.  For 
increasing  rate  of  heat  transfer,  flow  channel  grooves  are  made  in  the  blocks  which  not  only 
prevents accumulation of fluid but also spreads it uniformly over the surface. 

4.4 Pipes 
The device requires two types of pipes first thermally insulated, i.e., should prevent heat gain while 
circulating  liquid-2  between  cap  and  chiller  box.  Second  flexible  pipes,  which  could  lose  heat 
while circulating liquid-1 between chiller box and heat sink.  
Therefore,  the  first  pipe  could  be  6  mm  inner  radius  with  9  mm  thickness  and  2  m  long,  made of 
Foam  Heat Insulated Tube, and weighing 50 grams.[4] The Second pipe could be 6 mm inner radius 
2 m long with minimum thickness regular pipe. 
4.5 Liquid-1 
Liquid-1  flows  through the loop between heat exchanger and chiller box. This liquid will operate at 
the  temperature  ranging  above  room  temperature  as  it  will  be  extracting  heat  out  from  the  TEC 
hot surfaces and dumping it in surroundings through a heat exchanger. Water is used as Liquid-1. 

4.6 Liquid-2 
Liquid-2 flows through the loop between primary cap and chiller box. This liquid will operate at the 
temperature  in  sub-zero  range  as  it  is  required  to  be  around  -8°C.  Therefore,  the  freezing  point 
should  be  lower  than  -8°C.  Also  the  convection  coefficient  of  this  liquid should be high enough to 
extract  heat  from  patients'  heads  while  maintaining  surfaces  temperature.  A  25%  Antifreeze 
mixture  can  do  the  job  as  its  freezing  point  is  around  -15°C  and  thermal  conductivity  is  around 
0.45W/m-K  and  less  viscosity  at  lower  temperature  enables  it  to  maintain  a  high  convection 
coefficient.  

4.7 Heat Exchanger 

The  heat  exchanger  will  dump  the  undesirable  heat  generated  on  TEC  hot  surfaces  to  the 
surroundings.  The  maximum  heat  output  that  can  be  generated  by  the  design  is  around  960W.  A 
copper  fins  based  240mm  radiator with two 120mm fans @ 3000-4000 rpm can dissipate 500+ W 
of heat. Therefore two such radiators will do the job. 

5. Thermal Analysis: 

5.1 For Cap 

For  modelling  purposes,  we  assume  the  heat  transfer  to  be  one  dimensional  i.e.,  considering  a 
small  area  on  the  scalp,  we  can  assume  that  the  layers  brain, skull, fat, skin, hair to be transferring 
heat to the cold cap as vertical slabs with appropriate thicknesses, as shown in the figure 
 

 
 
So  the  model  configuration  consists  of  a  simplified  head  and  a  cooling  cap  system.  A  coolant  is 
circulated  through  the  cap, thus extracting heat from the patient’s scalp. We assume that all tissue 
layers  have  homogeneous  properties.  The one-dimensional bio–heat equation can thus be written 
as:(Ref.1) 
 

 
  
Here,  t,  ρ,  c  and  k  are  the  time,  density,  specific  heat  and  thermal  conductivity of each particular 
slab  of  the  model,  respectively.  T  is  the  local  tissue  temperature,  T​A  is  the  temperature  of  the 
arterial  blood(~37​ο​C)  and  q​m  is  the metabolic heat production in the tissue. Further, ρ​b and c​b are 
the  density(~1  g  cm​-3​)  and  specific  heat(~​3617  J  Kg​-1​K​-1​)  of  the  blood,  w​b  is the volumetric blood 
flow per tissue volume (m​3​ s −1​ ​ m​−3​ ). 
The  above  equation  takes  into  account  the  heat  generated  in  the  tissues  and  the  heat transfer to 
the  scalp  from  the  blood  perfusion.  The  values of the above properties are different for each layer 
and  keep  varying  from  a  human  to  another.  So,  we  take  the  generic  values  for  a  average  human 
which are as follows,(Ref.1) 
 

 
 
Coolant  inflow  in  the cold cap is modelled with the heat sink term in the one-dimensional bio–heat 
equation.  Density  and  specific  heat  of  the  coolant  (antifreeze  25%  solution)  are  approximated  to 
be  around  1.0463  g  cm​-3  (Ref.2)and  3688  J  Kg​-1​K​-1  (Ref.3)respectively.  The mass flow of the cap is 
estimated  at  0.17  kg  s​−1  (~10  Kg  min​−1  )  and  this  value  is  converted  to  a  w​b  of  119  kg  m​−3​s​−1  .  The 
default model value for the coolant temperature comes out to be approximately T​col​ = −8​o​C. 
 

5.2 Chiller Box 

 
There  are  4  TEC1  12715  stacked  between  two  copper  water  blocks  which  are  carrying  liquid-1 
and  liquid-2  flowing  in  loop-1  and  loop-2  as  defined in the proposed solution section.The surfaces 
of  TECs  and  the two copper water blocks are connected using thermal paste which will prevent air 
to  enter  between  the  their  interface,  hence  decrease the thermal contact resistance.  The liquid-1 
cools  the  hot  side  of  TECs  and  the  cold  side  of  TECs  extract  heat  from  the  liquid-2  going  to  the 
Cap.  
 
The  liquids  are  assumed  to  be  flowing  at  a  rate  of  0.1  m per sec with the assistance of two pumps. 
The  multiple  iterations  of  simulation  enlight  that  we  require  the  temperature  at  the  cold  and  hot 
side of TEC to be -10°C and 40°C respectively under given settings. 
 

5.3 Heat Exchanger 

The  hot  liquid-1  coming  from  the  water  block  after  cooling  the  TEC  is  recycled  for  the  next cycle 
by  forced  convection,  i.e.,  we  are  using  a  fan  on  the  240  mm  heat  sink  which  lowers  the 
temperature of liquid-1 from 40°C to 30°C. The liquid is circulated using the second pump. 
 
 
To  calculate  the  temperature  going  out  of heat exchanger we 
use this theory: 
The  heat transferred from the water to air is equal to the 
module heat load, q​L​, and is given by, 
 
q L = ε.c min .(T w2 − T a ) (1) 
 
 
 
 
 
where  T​w2  and  T​a  are  the  temperatures  of  the  water  and air entering the heat exchanger, 
ε   is  the  effectiveness of the heat exchanger, and C​min is the smaller of the air (C​a​) or water 
(C​w​)  heat  capacity  rates.  The  effectiveness  is  the  ratio  of  the  actual  heat  transfer  rate  of 
the  heat  exchanger  to  the  thermodynamically  limited  maximum  possible  heat  transfer 
rate in a heat exchanger of infinite area. 
 
Now we can write an equation for water present in the heat exchanger 

(2) 
where  T​w2  is  the  temperature  of  the  water  exiting  the  cold plate,  w is the mass flow rate 
of  the  water,  and  c​pw  is  the  specific  heat  of  the  water.  The  product  of  w  and  c​pw is equal 
to C​w​, which is the heat capacity rate of the water. 
 
From the first equation, we replace q L to the second equation and find out ​Tw ​ 1 ​from eqn-2. 
5.4 Calculations
Heat  generated  at  surface  of  scalp  at  surrounding 
temperature of 15 C is given by the relation -  
q = 284.8 - 7.55T KCal/m​2​-hr or  
2 
q = 330.73 - 8.7663T W/m​
 
And average head Area = 0.1 m​2 
At 25 C, q = 111.5 W/m​2​, Q = 
11.15 W 
And at 20 C,  q = 199.19 W/m​2 Q = 
19.9 W ~ 20 W 
 

Now we need to transfer the total heat of 20 W to the coolant inside the primary cap. Since the 
thickness is much less than circumference dimensions, therefore, it can be considered as three 
parallel walls in contact. 

By performing the calculation using this approximation, we get the required design parameters, 
i.e, thermal conductivity limit of silicone rubber. 

K​sil​ >= 0.133W/m-K 

For our model,  

1) Coolant temperature = ​-5​0 ​C 
2) Scalp temperature = ​15​0 ​C 
Required  conductivity  of  silicon  gel  >=  0.133W/m-K  which  is  also  practical  because  ​most  silicon 
gel rubbers have thermal conductivities ranging from 0.3 W/m-K to 1.2 W/m-K​. 
 
To cool 1Kg of 10% ethylene glycol mixture , 
S = 4000 J/Kg-k, m = 1 Kg, 𝞓T = ​25 to -5​ = 30​0​C or K 
 
Energy required to be released :  
= m * s * 𝞓T 
= 1 * 4000 * 30  
= 120 KJ  
 
To cool this much solution in 10 minutes, 
Required cooling power =  
= 120000/600  
= 200W  
 
Max Cooling Power per TEC = ​137W 
 
Therefore, Two TEC’s at 100W cooling power each is enough. 
 
At extreme case, These TEC’s produce ​230W​ on hot side each;  
Therefore,  
Heat sink of ​460W ​is apt for the purpose. 
 
→ Our aim is to create a refrigerator capable of dumping ​~500W​ (460 + 20 from head ) heat. 
→ We can use ​two 240-mm radiators​ to generate maximum ​1000 W​ heat sink (heat sink) 

​6. Manufacturing drawings

7. Simulation 
● For cold chamber -  
○ Inlet temp = 293K 
○ Volume flow = 140 ml/s, considering volume of piping, chiller box and cap 
● For hot chamber - 
○ Inlet temp = 313K 
○ Volume flow = 200 ml/s, considering volume of piping, chiller box and heat 
exchanger 
 
Desirable exit Boundary condition is -  
● For cold chamber - exit temp = 265K 
● For hot chamber - exit temp = 300K 
 ● In the simulation, we applied inlet boundary conditions and coolant properties to the 
chiller box design and performed flow simulation to find exit temperature for both cold 
and hot chambers. 
● From the simulation we found that -  
○ for cold chamber, exit temp ~ 266K  
○ for hot chamber, exit temp ~ 303K 
● Approximately follows our desirable exit boundary condition. 

Link for the simulation output video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EeMaMSbG3hhgnKwn1XyEQFpZldeOZ4Sr/view?usp=drivesdk

8. Bill Of Material and Cost Analysis 

The  following  table  lists  the  raw  materials,  sub-assemblies,  intermediate  assemblies, 
sub-components,  parts,  and  the  quantities  of  each  needed  to  manufacture  an  end  product  with 
their prices: 
 
Parent  Price of Rs per 
Material  Component  Quantity  Units  Unit  Total Cost  Details 

Circulates Coolant (liquid-1); Regulates scalp 

temperature; Insulated to environment by 
Silicon Cap - Primary  Cap  1  entity  699  699  secondary cap 
Woolen Cap - 
Secondary  Cap  1  entity  199  199  Act as Insulator for silicon (primary) cap 

80x80x15mm Copper Water Cooling Block 

Copper Water Cooling  For CPU Semiconductor Cooling Radiator 
Block  Chiller Box  2  entity  1600  3200  Heatsink 
TEC1-12715 Thermoelectric 15A Peltier 
TEC 12715  Chiller Box  4  entity  285  1140  Cooler Module 
Adiabatic Container  Chiller Box  1  entity  300  300  Plastic Box with foam filling 

 
Flexible Pipe Soft Water Hose Silicone
Normal 6 mm 2 m long  Rubber Tube
pipe  Loop-1  1  entity  299  299 
Foam Heat Insulated Tube 
Insulated 6 mm 2m long  Inner Diameter 6mm;Thickness : 9mm 
Pipe  Loop-2  2  entity  650  1300  Length : 200cm; Weight : 50g 

Coolant (liquid-1)  Loop-1  Full Tank  m^3  0  0  Water 

Antifreeze mixture/Liquid; Pre Inhibited 
Ethylene Glycol Liquid, Grade Standard: 
Reagent Grade; Density = 1.11 g/cm3 
Coolant (liquid-2)  Loop-2  0.0014  m^3  72150  101.0  Melting Point = -12.9 Degree C 

Pump (considering 
constant flow instead)  Pump  2  entity  649  1298  Speed of flow 0.1 m per sec 
240mm Radiator Water Cooler Tubes Heat 
Exchanger Aluminum Water Cooling CPU 
Heat Sink Set[14]  Heat Exchanger  1  entity  1542  1542  HeatSink 
roboCraze 12V PC Cooling Fan Wired Type, 
Fans[17]  Heat Exchanger  4  entity  199  796  CPU Cooler Radiator 
 Twin Core / 2 Core flat wire made of flexible 
pvc molding and with excellent insulation. 
Generally used for powering various devices 
Wire[13]  Electric Circuit  5  m  9.75  48.75  and circuits upto 3-5 Amp at 240V. 

180W - DC Metal  12V 15A SMPS - 180W - DC Metal Power 

Power Supply[17]  Electric Circuit  4  entity  590  2360  Supply  
Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease 
Thermal paste  Chiller box  2  entity  799  1598  Paste - 1.0 g 
 
From  the  above  table  we  could  say  that  the  devices  would  roughly  cost  around  Rs.  14880  ~ 
Rs 15000 

9. Conclusion 
This report explains a possible solution for creating a scalp cooling system. The components which
are modelled designed in this project are also available in the market or can also be manufactured
by an individual. The overall objective of this project was to connect the residual liquid + heat
exchanger loop to a silicone rubber cap + coolant loop. We knew about the thermodynamic
parameters which will be present on both these independent entities from research papers on scalp
cooling modelling and keeping their temperature difference in mind, it was reasonable to use
Peltier modules. The solidworks flow simulation shows that the designed chiller box is expected to
lower the temperature of TECs hot surfaces and cold surfaces such that it maintains the required
boundary conditions.
Link for the simulation output video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EeMaMSbG3hhgnKwn1XyEQFpZldeOZ4Sr/view?usp=drivesdk
 

10. References 
1. Janssen,  F.  E.  M.  (2007).  Modelling  physiological  and  biochemical  aspects  of  scalp  cooling. 
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven​. 

2. https://wiki.anton-paar.com/in-en/automotive-antifreeze/ 

3. https://thermtest.com/thermal-resources/rule-of-mixtures 

4. Woolen Properties 

5. Silicon Cap Price 

6. Woolen Cap Price 

7. TEC1 12715 Price 

8. Plastic box 

9. M3*0.5 ISO *12.9 Screws Hex Socket Head 

 10. Normal 6mm ID 2m long pipe price 
 
11. Insulated 6 mm 2m long Pipe Price 

12. Liquid-2 Price 

13. SMPS 1000w with 12v pins Price 

14. ​Wire Price 

15. 240 mm Aluminium Sink 

16. 12V PC Cooling Fan Wired Type 

 
17. 12V 15A SMPS - 180W - DC Metal Power Supply 

Contribution Table 
The contribution is given in percentage in the following table corresponding to each row: 
 

Tejas Ladhe  Mohd Zakir Hussain  Swaraj Pawar  Hritik Sagar  Audi Vihaari 
Sr No.    (17D100014)  (17D100015)  (17D100012)  (170100114)  (170100085) 

1.
Proposed solution  30 20 20 20 10

2.
Material Selection  35 25 15 15 10

3.
Thermal Analysis  35 25 10 10 20

4. Bill Of Material and Cost 

Analysis  20 45 20 15 0

5.
Conclusions  35 25 15 10 15