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A new approach to selective brain cooling by a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube

Overview of attention for article published in Intensive Care Medicine Experimental, September 2016
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Title
A new approach to selective brain cooling by a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube
Published in
Intensive Care Medicine Experimental, September 2016
DOI 10.1186/s40635-016-0102-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Mohammad Fazel Bakhsheshi, Yong Wang, Lynn Keenliside, Ting-Yim Lee

Abstract

Target temperature management is the single most effective intervention and the gold standard in post-resuscitation care today. However, cooling the whole body below 33-34 °C can cause severe complications. Therefore, developing a selective brain cooling (SBC) approach which can be initiated early to induce rapid cooling and maintain the target temperature over 12-24 h before slowly rewarming brain temperature by itself alone would be advantageous. Vortex tubes are simple mechanical devices generating cold air from a stream of compressed air without applied chemical or energy. This study investigated whether blowing cooled air from a vortex tube into the nasal cavities is safe and effective to selectively reduce and maintain before slowly rewarming brain temperature back to normal temperature. Experiments were conducted on ten juvenile pigs. Body temperature was measured using an esophageal and a rectal temperature probe while brain temperature with an intraparenchymal thermocouple probe. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured with CT perfusion. Brain temperature dropped below 34 °C within 30-40 min while a brain-esophageal temperature difference greater than 3 °C was maintained over 6 h. There was no evidence of nasal or nasopharynx mucosal swelling, necrosis, or hemorrhage on MRI examination. CBF first decreased and then stabilized together with brain temperature before increasing to the baseline level during rewarming. SBC was accomplished by blowing cold air from a vortex tube into the nasal cavities. Due to its portability, the method can be used continuously in resuscitated patients in both in- and out-of-hospital situations without interruption.

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Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 20 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 20 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 5 25%
Student > Ph. D. Student 3 15%
Student > Doctoral Student 3 15%
Researcher 2 10%
Lecturer > Senior Lecturer 1 5%
Other 2 10%
Unknown 4 20%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Engineering 6 30%
Medicine and Dentistry 5 25%
Energy 1 5%
Chemistry 1 5%
Nursing and Health Professions 1 5%
Other 0 0%
Unknown 6 30%