FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A NECK COLLAR FOR CEREBRAL COOLING

Hypothermia is an important neuro-protective strategy for patients with acute brain damage following traumatic brain injury, stroke or sudden cardiac death.. Nowadays, cooling therapy is performed inside the intensive care units with non-invasive systems applied to the body and head surface or invasively through cooling catheters inserted in the femoral vein. Full body cooling presents criticism still unresolved and a therapy localized in the brain is more effective. External systems (i.e. cool helmets) have a very low efficiency due to the need to overstep the cranial cap. For this reason we tested the feasibility to reduce the temperature of brain tissues by cooling the blood inside carotid and cervical artery through the neck. A simple mathematical model of heat transfer between neck surface, tissue, blood in the carotid and cervical arteries and then brain was studied and then in-vitro simulated. Cooling was performed with peltier cells opportunely conditioned. Results demonstrate the possibility to reduce the temperature of the brain of 2°C in about 50 minutes. Temperature’s decrease and process duration fit good together with actual first aid times and medical procedures. Moreover, an earlier intervention makes it faster the cooling transfer administered in the intensive units.