Localized Cooling Systems for Therapeutic Hypothermia
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooling methods for therapeutic hypothermia in medical settings often require systemic cooling, which lacks specificity, affects healthy tissues, and is time-consuming, whereas localized cooling techniques are faster but may not be easily integrated into clinical practices.
Innovation Solution
The development of self-contained cooling systems that include a refrigeration unit with a thermoelectric element, a fluid pump, and a control unit, allowing for localized thermal therapy delivery using devices like retractor blades and sheaths, enabling targeted cooling of specific anatomical areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If systemic cooling is used to achieve therapeutic hypothermia, then the entire body is cooled, but this affects unrelated healthy tissues and causes side effects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cooling system into separate modular components: a refrigeration unit, a fluid pump, tubing, and a cooling element that can be applied to specific body regions. This segmentation allows selective cooling of target areas (spine, brain, muscles) without cooling the entire body, thereby avoiding side effects on unrelated healthy tissues while maintaining therapeutic hypothermia benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling element is designed to be applied locally to specific anatomical regions requiring therapeutic hypothermia. The system enables different parts of the body to have different thermal states - the cooled target area experiences therapeutic hypothermia while the rest of the body maintains normal temperature, providing localized thermal therapy with distinct thermal properties for different body regions.
2Temperature
If systemic cooling is used to cool the entire body, then therapeutic hypothermia is achieved, but it requires many hours to reduce body temperature by 5° C.
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the cooling application to focus only on the target tissue rather than the entire body, the system achieves rapid cooling of the specific area. The cooling element is placed in direct contact with or near the target tissue, allowing heat to be removed efficiently from that localized region without the time penalty of cooling large volumes of tissue and blood throughout the body.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies cooling intensity that would be excessive for systemic cooling to a localized area, achieving rapid temperature reduction. By concentrating the cooling effect on a small target area rather than distributing it systemically, the patent achieves therapeutic hypothermia in minutes rather than hours, using partial action on the target tissue.
3Productivity
If localized cooling is applied to specific tissues, then cooling speed is increased, but integration into current clinical techniques is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling element is designed with universal applicability to work with various surgical procedures and anatomical locations. It can be integrated into existing surgical workflows and combined with different surgical techniques without requiring fundamental changes to clinical practice, thereby achieving rapid localized cooling while maintaining adaptability to current clinical techniques.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a fluid-based cooling system as an intermediary between the refrigeration unit and the target tissue. This fluid medium facilitates heat transfer and allows the cooling system to interface with various surgical procedures and anatomical locations, enabling easy integration into existing clinical techniques while maintaining rapid cooling capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These systems provide rapid and localized thermal therapy, reducing tissue trauma and neurologic damage, while being safe and easy to use in clinical settings, thus improving patient outcomes.
Implementation Method 1
a refrigeration unit containing a thermoelectric element in thermal communication with a heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
a thermoelectric element in thermal communication with a heat exchanger
Implementation Method 3
a fluid pump in fluid communication with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet
Implementation Method 4
a fluid cooling element in thermal contact with the thermoelectric element
Data Source
AI summary
Cooling systems are described herein that may be used in connection with one or more attached devices to cool patient tissue. The disclosed cooling systems include a refrigeration unit containing a thermoelectric element in thermal communication with a heat exchanger, a fluid pump in fluid communication with a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, tubing connecting the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet, a fluid cooling element in thermal contact with the thermoelectric element, and a temperature sensor positioned to detect a temperature of fluid within the tubing. The temperature of fluid within the tubing can be controlled by a control unit having a user interface and a power controller to adjust cooling power to the thermoelectric element. Various types of devices can be configured to receive and circulate cooled fluid from the cooling systems, such as retractor blades, retractor shims, cooling pads, and scope sheaths.