Cooling cap assembly and cooling unit

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods herein relate to cooling a head of a patient. These systems and methods may comprise a cooling cap assembly comprising a heat exchanger configured to be wrapped around a head of a patient and a compression assembly releasably coupled to the heat exchanger. The compression assembly may comprise an enclosure and an inflatable member coupled to an internal surface of the enclosure. When coupled, the inflatable member may be positioned between the enclosure and the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger may be separate from and moveable relative to the inflatable member.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A cooling cap assembly comprising:
 a heat exchanger configured to be wrapped around a head of a patient; and   a compression assembly releasably coupled to the heat exchanger, wherein the compression assembly comprises an enclosure and an inflatable member coupled to an internal surface of the enclosure, wherein when coupled, the inflatable member is positioned between the enclosure and the heat exchanger, and wherein the heat exchanger is separate from and moveable relative to the inflatable member.   
     
     
         2 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inflatable member comprises a deflated configuration and an inflated configuration, and wherein transitioning the inflatable member from the deflated to the inflated configuration increases a pressure applied to the head of the patient. 
     
     
         3 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a fluid pump coupled to the inflatable member. 
     
     
         4 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the enclosure is configured to generate a counter pressure when the inflatable member is in the inflated configuration. 
     
     
         5 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the compression assembly is configured to generate from about 0.5 lb/in 2  to about 5 lb/in 2  of compression to the head when the inflatable member is in the inflated configuration. 
     
     
         6 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inflatable member comprises a top inflatable portion, a first inflatable side portion, and a second inflatable side portion, wherein each portion comprises a chamber. 
     
     
         7 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 6 , wherein a length of the first inflatable side portion and a length of the second inflatable side portion are each more than a length of the top inflatable portion. 
     
     
         8 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the side inflatable portions of the inflatable member are configured to adjustably overlap so as to surround at least a portion of the head. 
     
     
         9 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inflatable member comprises a fluid barrier. 
     
     
         10 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inflatable member comprises one or more slits configured to aid in one or more of the folding, shaping, and overlapping of different portions of the inflatable member. 
     
     
         11 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the inflatable member comprises at least three chambers. 
     
     
         12 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises a set of fluid barriers, wherein each fluid barrier of the set of fluid barriers is about 5 mm to about 15 mm from an adjacent fluid barrier in the set of fluid barriers. 
     
     
         13 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 12 , wherein each fluid barrier in the set of fluid barriers comprises a diameter of from about 5 mm to about 10 mm. 
     
     
         14 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 12 , further comprising a temperature sensor positioned within an opening of at least one fluid barrier of the set of fluid barriers. 
     
     
         15 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 12 , wherein at least one fluid barrier of the set of fluid barriers comprises a torus shape. 
     
     
         16 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 6 , wherein each portion of the heat exchanger comprises at least a portion of a fluid channel. 
     
     
         17 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the top portion defines a longitudinal axis, wherein the first side portion and the second side portion extend from the base portion at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         18 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 11 , wherein one or more end portions of the heat exchanger are configured to adjustably overlap so as to surround at least a portion of the head. 
     
     
         19 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the heat exchanger comprises one or more fluid channels each comprising a cross-sectional area of from about 9 mm 2  to about 100 mm 2 . 
     
     
         20 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a liner configured to be disposed between the heat exchanger and a scalp of the patient; and   a fastener releasably coupled to the compression assembly and the patient.   
     
     
         21 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a cooling unit fluidly coupled to the compression assembly, the cooling unit comprising a fluid connector releasably coupled to the heat exchanger, a compressor, a reservoir, and a pump. 
     
     
         22 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 21 , wherein the cooling unit comprises a housing, a battery, and a fluid reservoir releasably coupled to the housing. 
     
     
         23 . The cooling cap assembly of  claim 22 , wherein the cooling unit is configured to circulate a fluid through the heat exchanger, wherein the fluid comprises one or more of water and salt, water and glycol, and water and alcohol. 
     
     
         24 . A cooling cap assembly comprising:
 a heat exchanger configured to be wrapped around a head of a patient; and   a compression assembly releasably coupled to the heat exchanger, wherein the compression assembly comprises an enclosure and an inflatable member coupled to an internal surface of the enclosure, wherein when coupled, the inflatable member is positioned between the enclosure and the heat exchanger, wherein the heat exchanger is separate from and moveable relative to the inflatable member, and wherein transitioning the inflatable member from a deflated configuration to an inflated configuration increases a contact area between the heat exchanger and to the head of the patient.   
     
     
         25 . A method of cooling a scalp of a head to reduce hair loss resultant from chemotherapy comprising:
 wrapping a heat exchanger around a portion of the scalp;   placing a compression assembly on the head and over the wrapped heat exchanger, wherein the compression assembly comprises a semi-rigid outer member and an inflatable inner member coupled to the outer member; and   inflating the inflatable member to compress the heat exchanger between the inflatable member and the scalp.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the heat exchanger is separate from and moveable relative to the inflatable member.