Hypothermia can be a help or a hindrance in the clinical setting. A growing body of preclinical research supports the use of even mild cooling in treating or preventing the brain damage that results from ischemic conditions including stroke, head injuries and heart attacks. Conversely, hypothermia that is induced or develops incidentally during surgery can increase blood loss and the risk of infection. Current methods for managing hypothermia involve surface heat transfer. Cooling is achieved by wrapping patients in cold blankets, packing them in ice or flushing the body cavity with cold fluids. It can often take three to six hours to cool the body enough to lower brain temperature to the desired level. Warming, accomplished with warm blankets and circulating warm air over the patient, is even more time-consuming and impractical in some cases, such as orthopedic surgery or surgeries with large incisions.
Innercool Therapies Inc. believes it can offer a fast, effective, and safe solution with Celsius Control, its vascular catheter system for inducing or reversing hypothermia in the treatment of...