Prediction of core temperature decrease induced by neck cooling in wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injury using the Pierce two-node model and parameter search

Wheelchair athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI) always suffer from hyperthermia during exercise due to thermoregulation dysfunction. To prevent this increase in body temperature, we have developed a neck-wearing device for cooling and confirmed its efficacy. However, the cooling effect is subject to differences between individuals; thus, it is difficult to predict. In this study, we attempted to predict the effect of this cooling device during an exercise in a hot environment using the Pierce two-node model and the parameter search method. The proposed prediction method includes the following two phases for parameter setting: parameter search of thermophysiological coefficients in a non-cooling measurement and the subsequent search of an effective cooling rate. Our preliminary result in the experiment with three wheelchair athletes as subjects successfully demonstrates that the proposed method can calibrate the two-node model and estimate an effective cooling rate for each subject. It is also noteworthy that the parameter search was effective in applying the Pierce two-node model for able-bodied persons to persons with SCI. The proposed method of predicting the cooling effect can help in determining the appropriate driving power of the cooling device for individual users.