Heat exchanger garment

Abstract

A heat exchanger for use in controlling subject's body temperature during a medical procedure comprises a flexible garment adapted for enveloping portions of the subject's body surface with dedicated sections for enveloping different body parts. Defined within the garment is a continuous, fluid tight space, wherein a flow path for heat-control fluid is defined between fluid inlet and fluid outlet. The inner faces of the garment's internal and external layers are made of a heat-weldable material and are point-welded to one another at a plurality of locations throughout the garment with a distance between two adjacent points being between about 8 to about 20 mm.

1 . A heat exchanger for use in controlling a subject's body temperature during a medical procedure, comprising: 
 a flexible garment adapted for enveloping portions of the subject's body surface, the garment having dedicated sections for enveloping different body parts which comprise a torso section for enveloping substantial portions of the subject's torso and one or more extremity sections for enveloping portions of one or more of the individual's extremities;    a fastening arrangement for retaining each section in an enveloping state;    fluid-tight space defined between an internal, body-facing layer of the garment and an external layer and between fluid tight edges of the garment, the faces of both layers lining said space being attached to one another along lines defining a flow path between at least one fluid inlet and at least one fluid outlet to permit flow of fluid from the at least one inlet to the at least one outlet throughout essentially the entire garment for effective heat transfer to or from all parts of the garment;    the inner faces of the garment's internal and external layers are made of a heat-weldable material and are point welded to one another at a plurality of locations throughout the garment.    
     
     
         2 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein said space is a volume per unit area which is essentially the same throughout the garment.  
     
     
         3 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein the welded points are separated from one another by about 8 to about 20 mm.  
     
     
         4 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 3 , wherein said internal layer and said external layer comprise each two sub-layers made of heat-weldable material, of which the two inner layers are fluid impermeable and define said fluid-tight space between them and the outer layers are reinforcement, pair resistant layers.  
     
     
         5 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 4 , wherein the external layer is a non-woven spunbond fabric.  
     
     
         6 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 5 , wherein the internal layer is made of polyethylene and the external layer of polypropylene; all four layers being welded to one another at radial locations throughout the garment.  
     
     
         7 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 6 , wherein said garment comprises sections for enveloping portions of an individual's two legs and arms.  
     
     
         8 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 7 , wherein the garment comprises a section for enveloping a substantial portion of non-facial parts of the individual's head.  
     
     
         9 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 8 , for use in human medicine.  
     
     
         10 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 9 , for use in controlling a patient's body temperature during surgery.  
     
     
         11 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 10 , for use in veterinary medicine.  
     
     
         12 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 11 , wherein, under an internal pressure of about 0.5-1.5 atmospheres, said space has an internal volume of about 1-3 liter/m 2  of garment surface.  
     
     
         13 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 12 , wherein said space is about 1.7-2 liter/m 2  of garment surface.  
     
     
         14 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 13 , wherein each section can be manipulated between an enveloping state and a non-enveloping state independently from other sections.  
     
     
         15 . A garment according to  claim 14 , wherein the different sections are defined by emarginations in the garnent's edges.  
     
     
         16 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  1 - 15 , wherein flow-path defining lines are formed by heat welding.  
     
     
         17 . A heat exchanger for use in the transfer of heat to or from a substrate, the heat exchanger being flexible such that it can assume the shape of said substrate and having a fluid-tight space defined within it for holding and transferring a heat-control fluid therethrough between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the heat exhchanger being characterized in that: 
 it comprises four, heat-weldable layers, of which two internal layers are made of a fluid-impermeable material and defining said space between them and of which the two external layers are made of a tear resistant material to improve the heat exchanger's ability to contain pressurized fluid within said space;    said four layers being welded to one another at the edges, with the weld between the two internal layers being fluid tight, and are further welded to one another at a plurality of points throughout the garment.    
     
     
         18 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 1 , wherein the external layers are made of a non-woven spunbond fabric.  
     
     
         19 . A heat exchanger according to  claim 18 , wherein the internal layers are made of polyethylene and the external layers from a non-woven spunbond polypropylene fabric.  
     
     
         20 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  17 - 19 , wherein said space has a volume per unit area which is essentially the same throughout the heat exchanger.  
     
     
         21 . A heat exchanger according to any one of claims  17 - 20 , wherein the welded points are separated from one another by about 8 to about 20 mm.