METAVEST: Advanced Biomimetic Personal Cooling for Enhancing Heat Safety Among High-Risk Workers

SUMMARY Rising temperatures from climate change are impacting workers across various sectors in the U.S., leading to reduced productivity, significant economic costs, and placing employee lives at risk. Current approaches to combat heat exposure, such as protective clothing, scheduled breaks, hydration protocols, and shaded or ventilated areas, have significant limitations to provide protection. Advanced active cooling systems incorporating thermoelectric or conventional refrigeration offer substantial cooling but are energy-intensive and prohibitively expensive, costing thousands of dollars per unit, making them inaccessible to industry workers who would benefit the most. These limitations highlight the need for high-performance, lightweight personal cooling systems that ensure day-long heat safety. Our solution is a high-performance, biomimetic personal cooling system (PCS) that revolutionizes personal heat safety and address the limitations of current cooling vests. The cooling vest utilizes highly thermally conductive gallium alloy-based liquid metal (LM) as the primary coolant and ice as the secondary coolant to significantly reduce heat-related health risks for workers. The potential of METAVEST is anchored in four key success metrics: efficient cooling capacity (200-400 W-hr), sustained performance (4-8 hrs), lightweight design (3-8 lbs), and affordability (<$400/unit). Our approach inspired by human heart capillaries, allows for controlled and efficient cooling, adaptable to user needs through variable pump speeds. Unlike passive systems, the vest maintains consistent cooling efficiency, making it a superior choice for prolonged and effective body temperature regulation for U.S. workers in extreme heat.