Heated Arm Sleeve for Forearm, Palm, and Wrist Heating to Maintain Dexterity

To address the Army need for a lightweight, ruggedized, nonflammable, low-power device to maintain dexterity in resting individuals conducting cold weather operations, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Heated Arm Sleeve (HAS). This proposed device is based on a layered system consisting of a heating element, insulation, and a temperature control subsystem integrated into a fingerless sleeve to directly warm the forearms, palms, and wrists. The low-power, convenient HAS will maintain fine-motor dexterity in resting individuals by heating the muscles essential to dexterity. The HAS will perform for over 4 hr on a single 12 V battery, and can be integrated into military gear via a SnapNet connector, making it an easy to-use, ruggedized device for resting military personnel. In Phase I, POC confirmed the feasibility of HAS by developing the device and demonstrating its ability to maintain dexterity in human volunteers in a controlled cold environment (~-1 degree C) for 4 hr. In contrast, dexterity decreased dramatically in volunteers who did not wear HAS. In Phase II, we plan to optimize the existing HAS prototype and demonstrate its effectiveness and ease-of-use with extensive testing on human volunteers.