Therapeutic Brain Cooling – Neurosave Technology talk by Seth Rodgers

Seth Rodgers, CEO of Neurosave talked about therapeutic brain cooling for treatment of stroke and other illnesses at www.bio2devicegroup.org event.

Rogers shared about brain cooling experiments with baboon brains that were done at Columbia University, that have indicated hugely beneficial effect. Rodgers said, Despite the benefits of therapeutic brain cooling, previous attempts have not worked with humans because along with the brain, the body also got cold.  When the whole body is cooled then it leads to many side effects including heart rhythm problems, immune system suppression and so on.  Optimal brain cooling should be fast, deep, and targeted, said Rodgers.

Neurosave technology delivers the benefits of therapeutic hypothermia to the brain while protecting the body from the negative effects of cooling.  Neurosave’s minimally invasive solution is designed to be used in intubated, sedated patients. Setup for this treatment is quick and easy.  Without any incisions, chilled saline solution in circulated in the pharynx and the esophagus, via balloon cuffed catheters, that prevent the fluid from exiting the cooling zone.  The solution is removed from the mouth, filtered and cooled in a machine similar to the dialysis machine, and is returned to the patient, via 2 points, the nasal cavity and the esophagus.  

Establishing a continuous circuit, this technology lowers the temperature of the tissue that surrounds the fluid.  Both the carotid and the vertebral arteries are located in this zone of chilled tissue and the blood traveling through these arteries is cooled.  As the cold blood reaches the brain, the temperature in the brain rapidly goes down, resulting in brain cooling that is faster and deeper.  The body can be counter warmed to maintain the body’s core temperature near normal, to reduce the negative side effects associated with whole body cooling, said Rodgers.

In a 5 patient clinical trial, in Australia, no device related safety issues were observed.  Additionally, efficacy was observed by 2 measures, brain temperature via jugular bulb and body temperature via bladder catheter.   Regular body temperature was maintained, while brain cooling was demonstrated.  This brain cooling method was quick, noninvasive, and easy and can be used by a range of acute care providers, inside and outside the hospital setting, said Rodgers.