Engineer Develops Thermosuit For Rapid Cooling Of Critically Ill Patients

William Ohley, who has taught in the URI College of Engineering for 28 years, joined with medical colleagues in Louisiana and New Jersey to form Life Recovery Systems after developing what they call the Thermosuit® , a plastic suit that encases unconscious patients to flood their bodies with cold water to induce hypothermia.

Ohley explained that by rapidly inducing hypothermia, and reducing body temperature by three to five degrees centigrade, a patient's full recovery from cardiac arrest is more likely to occur. Just 10 to 20 percent of cardiac arrest patients whose hearts are restarted recover fully, primarily because the lack of blood flow to the brain causes brain damage or brain swelling. This device would allow for the blood flow to return to normal faster and prevent brain damage. Additionally, the AHA guidelines state that a patient's body temperature after cardiac arrest should be reduced to 32-34 degrees centigrade and held there for 12 to 24 hours. The rate of cooling is also important and the fact that Ohley's product can produce the needed temperature much faster is what makes his device ideal (as of right now.)

Systems have been developed that blow cold air over the body or deploy ice packs, but they often take hours to reduce the body temperature to effective levels. Ohley’s system takes just 30 minutes. The device is now being deployed in a number of hospitals around the country and internationally, and nursing and emergency room staff are being trained in its use. Hospitals using the suit report that the survival rate of patients suffering cardiac arrests has risen from 35 percent to 60 to 70 percent.

In addition to cardiac arrest patients, Ohley believes stroke patients and those with brain and spinal cord injuries may also benefit from use of the design.



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430161111.htm