Gastric, cutaneous, or peritoneal delivery of frozen mist to induce therapeutic hyperthermia

Abstract

Peritoneal heat exchange provides the benefit of extremely rapid cooling of the patient's target organs such as the heart and brain as well as facilitating global patient body temperature reduction to therapeutically effective temperatures. The heat exchange medium of the present invention is a chilled gaseous fluid suspension of frozen ice particles.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for cooling a patient, said system comprising:
 a generator which produces a flowing gas stream having entrained frozen solid particles therein; and   means for directing the flowing gas stream to a body surface which is not part of the patient's respiratory system, wherein the solid particles are directly exposed to the body surface melt to absorb body heat to cause at least one of lowering and controlling the patient's body temperature, wherein passing the flowing gas stream comprises introducing the flowing gas stream through an inlet conduit in an abdominal wall into a body cavity and simultaneously removing the flowing gas stream from the body cavity through an outlet conduit in the abdominal wall and wherein the inlet conduit is separate from the outlet conduit and the conduits are introduced through opposed locations on the abdominal wall.