Portable scalp cooling device for chemotherapy patients wins international James Dyson Award

Humphreys was inspired to develop Athena after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and underwent chemotherapy, which can result in hair loss from the scalp. This side effect of chemotherapy can be alleviated by scalp cooling, a process that narrows blood vessels and reduces blood flow, thereby limiting the amount of chemotherapy that reaches the hair follicles.

Prior to an infusion of chemotherapy, a patient opting for scalp cooling must arrive 30 minutes early and stay for 90 minutes after infusion for pre and post cooling. 

Humphreys’ solution is portable, allowing the patient to commute to and from the hospital while cooling and to move around during the infusion.

She explained that similar portable solutions are available but are far from comfortable.

“The dry ice packs that are being carried around [are] the most portable option, and that is insanely cold,” she said. “Scalp cooling is cold, but this portable manual thing is minus 40. Four degrees would be the optimum.”