Swathika Meenraj
aDepartment of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Lakshmana Chebolu
aDepartment of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Balasubramanian Venkatesh
bDepartment of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Keywords:
Shirodhara, Impact force, Impact duration, Force sensor, Ayurveda, Fluid impact on solids
Abstract
Shirodhara is an ayurvedic procedure usually administered to alleviate mental stress. The process involves impact on the forehead by a free fall of a continuous stream of temperature controlled fluid.
Objective
In this study, the impact force generated on the forehead due to fluid falling from dhara pot held at a standard height of 4 angulas is measured passing through a traditional wick.
Materials and methods
The variation of this impact force for different medicinal oils such as Ksheerabala oil, Mahanarayana oil and water is studied. The measurements are made using an Integrated Circuit Piezoelectric force sensor designed to measure low loads.
Results
The impact force is found to be order of 10−2 N and is observed to marginally vary with the type of liquid used in the experiment. The force was found to build up an average duration of 7.2 ms linearly over a time.
Conclusion
It was observed that the impact force generated on the human forehead due to Shirodhara treatment was low and is invariant to the medicinal oils used in the treatment. The measured forces correlate closely with the force estimates made from simple fluid mechanics. These forces have an important role in the estimate of stresses, displacements and voltage generated due to the impact associated with Shirodhara.
Keywords: Shirodhara, Impact force, Impact duration, Force sensor, Ayurveda, Fluid impact on solids
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