Arctic Sun medical device

The Arctic Sun Temperature Management System is a non-invasive targeted temperature management system, a medical device used to modulate patient temperature with precision by circulating chilled water in pads directly adhered to the patient's skin. Using varying water temperatures and a sophisticated computer algorithm, a patient's body temperature can be controlled to the nearest 0.2 °C. It is produced by Medivance, Inc. of Louisville, Colorado.

Body temperature, which is systematically measured and reported as a vital sign, contributes to maintenance of normal physiology and affects the processes that lead to recovery after illness. Complete and proper functioning of the body is dependent on maintaining a core temperature between 36.5–38.5 °C (97.7–101.3 °F). A core temperature above 41.5 °C or below 33.5 °C causes a fast decline in proper functioning of the body and may result in injury or death. Intentional manipulation of body temperature has been studied as a treatment strategy for head injuries since the 1900s. In the 1980s, the use of hypothermia on dogs after cardiac arrest demonstrated positive outcomes including neurological status and survival. In 2005, the American Heart Association implemented recommendations and guidelines for mild hypothermia in post-resuscitation support after cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation.

One of the most common practices of targeted temperature management is to reduce body temperature to a “mild hypothermic state” (per the AHA guidelines is 33 °C (91.4 °F) for 12–24 hours and then slowly re-warm the body back to normal 37 °C (98.6 °F). The purpose of this is to slow the metabolic processes and the chemical cascade that occurs when the brain goes without oxygen for a period of time. A study conducted in 2002-2004 showed that treatment with therapeutic hypothermia for patients resuscitated after cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation led to a positive outcome (Glasgow-Pittsburgh Cerebral Performance category 1 or 2) in 24 of 43 patients compared to only 11 of 43 patients in the standard resuscitation group where no hypothermia was used in treatment.

Therapeutic hypothermia, which lowers the patient's body temperature to levels between 32–34 °C (90–93 °F), is used to help reduce the risk of the ischemic injury to the brain following a period of insufficient blood flow. Periods of insufficient blood flow may be caused by cardiac arrest, stroke, or brain trauma. Non-invasively induced therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to reduce mortality of successfully resuscitated cardiac arrest victims by 35 percent and increase the chance of a good neurologic outcome by 39 percent.

...
Wikipedia