Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Think of it as an upgraded ice bucket. The ThermoSuit, made by Life Recovery Systems of Alexandria, La., pumps ice water into a disposable plastic body suit designed to induce "therapeutic hypothermia" -- cooling of the body's core temperature to preserve the function of vital organs such as the brain and heart. So far, the only proven use of medically induced hypothermia is for cardiac arrest victims, "but there is accumulating data to use the therapy in head injury," according to Daniel Herr, medical director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Washington Hospital Center.

Last year, doctors used a different cool-down technique on Buffalo Bills football player Kevin Everett after he suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury; Everett recovered, though it's not clear whether the cooling was responsible.

This device, which costs about $30,000, is in use at the Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital in Richmond. Risks of this therapy include pneumonia, blood clots and some heart complications.

-- Ranit Mishori