Designed by two Stanford professors, the Avacore Core Control is a heat extractor for the human body which will provide an athlete the ability to recover more quickly than natural methods such as sweating. An interesting product, but with a price tag of $3000, I doubt the the public will get their hands on this anytime soon. This instructable will show you how to build your own CoreControl for about $150.
Before you get started, please familiarize yourself on how the CoreControl works. You can check the published study that goes in depth with the CoreControl. I was able to replicate the functions for my DIY CoreControl using the design specs from this study.
FAQ about the Corecontrol.
More Published studies (bottom of page)
Check out instructable user emckee1's blog on his DIY CoreControl with improvements!
diybodyheatextractor.blogspot.com
Summary
When our body overheats, it goes through a thermoregulation process to expel excess core body heat. The palm of our hands is one of the body's "radiators" to expel heat. Why the palm of the hands? The palms have numerous capillaries which cover a large surface area, allowing the removal of excess heat from the body. The vacuum is supposed to draw the blood to your hands to increase the heat transfer rate. The faster you remove the excess body heat, the faster you will recover from exercise.
You may have heard about rubbing ice cubes on your wrist to reduce recovery time. However, this method is inefficient because low temperatures cause the blood vessels to constrict, thereby reducing the blood flow. The CoreControl applies a similar concept, however, is more effective because it uses a vacuum to draw the blood quickly to the palms, and the controlled temperature prevents constriction of blood vessels.
I built my first homemade CoreControl a year ago. Due to numerous requests, I decided to build a second one in order to write a detailed step-by-step guide. Let's have some fun!
Before you get started, please familiarize yourself on how the CoreControl works. You can check the published study that goes in depth with the CoreControl. I was able to replicate the functions for my DIY CoreControl using the design specs from this study.
FAQ about the Corecontrol.
More Published studies (bottom of page)
Check out instructable user emckee1's blog on his DIY CoreControl with improvements!
diybodyheatextractor.blogspot.com
Summary
When our body overheats, it goes through a thermoregulation process to expel excess core body heat. The palm of our hands is one of the body's "radiators" to expel heat. Why the palm of the hands? The palms have numerous capillaries which cover a large surface area, allowing the removal of excess heat from the body. The vacuum is supposed to draw the blood to your hands to increase the heat transfer rate. The faster you remove the excess body heat, the faster you will recover from exercise.
You may have heard about rubbing ice cubes on your wrist to reduce recovery time. However, this method is inefficient because low temperatures cause the blood vessels to constrict, thereby reducing the blood flow. The CoreControl applies a similar concept, however, is more effective because it uses a vacuum to draw the blood quickly to the palms, and the controlled temperature prevents constriction of blood vessels.
I built my first homemade CoreControl a year ago. Due to numerous requests, I decided to build a second one in order to write a detailed step-by-step guide. Let's have some fun!
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
Materials Needed
- 4" Diameter PVC Pipe
- 4" to 3" PVC Reducer
- 4" Rubber End Cap
- 3" Metal Fastener
- 20' Vinyl tube 5/16" x 3/16"
- Long Cuff Neoprene Gloves
- Four 3/16" Barb x 1/4" MIP
- Two 1/2" FIP x 1/4" FIP Pipe Reducing Coupling
- 1/2" x 5" Brass Pipe Nipple
- Via Aqua Model: VA-302 (Can be found at a pet store, could use any other water pump)
- OEM Brake Bleed Kit Pump (Can be found at Autozone)
- Digital Thermometer
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I did some research online, and found this website:
http://www.corecontrolcooling.com
They have tons of scientific studies, and videos there. It looks like the NBA Golden State Warriors & the NFL 49ers have been using this new model.
So for all you who doubt, you can stop now :)
Arduino controlled vacuum and water pump
larger vacuum chamber and larger (1.5") copper pipe for cooling
faster cuff entry and exit
You can see the build log if interested at diybodyheatextractor.blogspot.com
- There are plenty of higher diameter pumps, I used 1/2" tubing and this reduced need for an un-needed reducer for cooling pipe, while still maintaining great water flow. I believe my pump is around 250 gph
- Buy two 90 degree adapters for the cooling pipe to hose connection, so that both hoses can come off same direction and you can ziptie them together... having them come off in opposite directions is unwieldy
- I used a 3/4" pipe, more surface area and my hand still fits fine.
- I off-set the pipe to one side, I don't like putting in the middle because the bulk of your hand is only on one side.
- Most hardware stores should have a 4"->3" reducer in rubber, which means you don't need the cement, and makes it much more serviceable.
- Buy two 4" rubber caps, when building you can cap both ends and submerge in water to test for leaks.
- Be careful which gloves you buy, my first pair had packaging that stapled through the glove, rendering a good 3in worthless. Look up "dry suit cuffs" and for $10 or so you can get latex cuffs specifically designed to be air tight. this seems to be weakest part of design.
- If you add a small aquarium heater, you can also use this to warm up. I whitewater and snowboard, plan on using this after some outings!
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-08/video-cooling-glove-could-help-athletes-more-steroids-chilling-their-hands
35 - 45 mm Hg converts to roughly 1.4 - 1.8 inches of Hg rather than 2 - 3 inches Hg. Depending on your design and build quality, that 3 inches of Hg amy be difficult to achieve and nevertheless appears to be unnecessary.
Hope this helps. Thanks again!
I had some success using the device My experience was that consecutive sets of work felt like the first if the device was use for 3 - 5 minutes before the set. I also noticed that I could perform a larger volume of work: more weight for more reps and sets. A longer duration recovery period after whatever work seemed to improve immediate recovery. I have also used it after a run and have found it possible to go back out and run some more when normally I would have been very fatigued.
The device isn't only for weight lifting- it was just a convenient method for me to test it.
My setup was pretty noisy and large, so I've decided to upgrade to make it more convenient. There are some good ideas in here gyronictonic which I am going to incorporate. Thanks!
Thank you for the design. Im building one tomorrow.
This is the first time I've seen it as a cooldown method, but it makes sense that it would work for that too.
Idea: why not flood the whole vacuum chamber with water, leaving some air space if you don't want to suck water into the brake bleed pump?
Idea: what about circulating air between the chamber and a heat exchanger in your ice-water bath? You could use Arduino PID to do temperature feedback control on the air exiting the chamber by increasing or decreasing the pump flow rate.
Concern: It looks the science is not yet 'settled' on this, to make fun of Al Gore. A recent review paper (2010) of 14 different studies found that the average improvement in exercise performance due to cooling interventions was 4.25%. (Review paper link) At a minimum, it seems that your specific exercise routine and timing combined with the use of a tool like this will cause the results to vary greatly. For example, if you're doing anaerobic stuff (weight lifting) it sounds like this doesn't really help, but if you're doing aerobic (soccer) it does.
I haven't found the body of the article you cited but it isn't clear that they tested the effectiveness of the avacore glove, but rather, tested more conventional prevailing methods of cooling. There have been quite a few compelling studies and demonstrations during the development of the glove that indicate it is especially effective--for anaerobic activity, in particular. Not to take anything away from Jim Harbaugh, but (my non-scientific opinion) Stanford's football team has been benefiting from using the glove and their record since its use tends to suggest they should continue to use it.
Part of the question I'm asking though is whether a cold shower (if available) would produce the same results even if in a more brute force way (overcoming your body's cold defense response with... lots more cold water). Do you know how important it is to do this during or immediately after your workout, as opposed to 10-15 min later?
Regarding air vs. water- water at the same temperature may have a lower perceived temperature and will remove more heat faster because it has a higher heat capacity and conductivity than air. But, I don't immediately see why you couldn't still use it- maybe a degree or two warmer to avoid causing capillary constriction.
I bet if you could find a sensitive enough thermometer you could find the shut-off threshold by measuring the heat of blood being returned through the veins of your wrist (by testing different temps of cooling liquids until you saw the cessation of cooling in the returned blood).
http://gallery.me.com/lachyg#100055&bgcolor=black&view=grid
Just make sure to not drink the can when you're done, put it back in and grab a fresh one to drink.
Don't use anything freezer cold though, your circulation will slow down to prevent hypothermic conditions from infiltrating your body (and it hurts).
Of course, the best of all is a shower. But although something simple, a shower cabin is so difficult to see around --though I remember having seen some at the Brussels airport (the very place I also saw the most bably designed toilets!!, if I may be so bold
).
-.
http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/fight-science/