Thermal and moisture control performance of different mastectomy bras and external breast prostheses

Abstract

This paper introduces a project involving a thermoregulation performance experiment design to evaluate the different responses of research subjects to a range of mastectomy bras and external breast prostheses. A set of newly designed heat-reduction mastectomy bras and prostheses were mix-matched with a set of conventional mastectomy bras and prostheses for the experiment. Four combinations of mastectomy bras and external breast prostheses were used: (a) Com A: conventional mastectomy bra and conventional prosthesis; (b) Com B: conventional mastectomy bra and heat-reduction prosthesis; (c) Com C: heat-reduction mastectomy bra and conventional prosthesis; and (d) Com D: heat-reduction mastectomy bra and heat-reduction prosthesis. Nine healthy male subjects (mean age: 31.9 ± 5.9 y and mean under-bust circumference: 35.3 ± 2.8 in) participated in this study in lieu of women who had undergone surgery for double mastectomy and were too self-conscious to expose their scars for sensor attachment. Eight sets of temperature and humidity sensors were placed between the surface of the skin and the prostheses and bra to measure the changes in both temperature and humidity data in a microclimate environment while the participants performed physical activity. The results showed that Com D demonstrated better thermal and moisture control, resulting in lower body temperature and lower humidity increment throughout the entire experiment. The study proved that the heat-reduction mastectomy bra and external breast prosthesis were effective in releasing the trapped heat and perspiration underneath the bra, and thus would provide a positive impact on clothing comfort and wearing experience for women who had undergone mastectomies.

Effects of ventilation design on thermal comfort performance and breast displacement for sports bras

“…According to previous research, 10,23,61 the sports bra with (significantly) lower values in T s and H s at all or most of the five time points was considered to be (significantly) better in thermal comfort performance than other sports bras. In addition, the average value of T s and H s of five time points was also compared if there was no significant difference between two sports bras at any time point.…”

“…In addition, the improvement of thermal comfort performance should not be at the cost of the reduction of support performance, which was regarded as one of the most important functions of sports bras. However, most studies have focused only on support 25–37 or thermal comfort 7–12 (as shown in Table 1), little research has paid attention to both the breast support and thermal comfort performance of sports bras.…”

“…However, during exercise, as the breasts rhythmically move in three directions (anterior-posterior, medial-lateral, and vertical), the opening formed between the neckline and the body will open and close, resulting in the pumping of the ambient air from the neckline. In recent research about the thermoregulation performance of a range of mastectomy bras and external breast prostheses, Shin et al (2020) found that the bouncing breast movements might create extra airflows through the bra cup neckline, which swiftly promoted sweat evaporation during exercise at the upper-center front cup. 23 Besides, the heat-reduction mastectomy bra with ventilation holes and breast prosthesis with a hollow inner air chamber demonstrated better thermal and moisture control, resulting in lower body temperature and lower humidity increment during excise.…”

“…In recent research about the thermoregulation performance of a range of mastectomy bras and external breast prostheses, Shin et al (2020) found that the bouncing breast movements might create extra airflows through the bra cup neckline, which swiftly promoted sweat evaporation during exercise at the upper-center front cup. 23 Besides, the heat-reduction mastectomy bra with ventilation holes and breast prosthesis with a hollow inner air chamber demonstrated better thermal and moisture control, resulting in lower body temperature and lower humidity increment during excise. 24 This suggests the possibility that the thermal comfort performance of the sports bra can be improved through ventilation design.…”

“…Therefore, as an effective strategy for improving heat loss, ventilation has been used in many other garments, 13,14 and the research of Shin et al (2020) suggested the possibility that the thermal comfort performance of sports bras could be improved through ventilation design. 23 However, most studies on the thermal comfort of sports bras were addressing the effect of different fabrics, [7][8][9][10] whereas the effect of ventilation design on heat loss during exercise has yet to be investigated. In addition, the improvement of thermal comfort performance should not be at the cost of the reduction of support performance, which was regarded as one of the most important functions of sports bras.…”