Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Despite decades of care path improvements approximately 30% of heart attack victims die within 1 year after their first heart attack. Animal testing has shown that mild hypothermia, reducing tissue temperatures by , has the potential to save heart tissue that is not adequately perfused with blood. This paper describes the design of a cooling guide catheter that can provide rapid, local cooling to heart tissue during emergency angioplasty. Using standard materials and dimensions found in typical angioplasty guide catheters, a closed-loop cooling guide catheter was developed. Thermal fluid modeling guided the interior geometric design. After careful fabrication and leak testing, a mock circulatory system was used to measure catheter cooling capacity. At blood analog flow rates ranging from 20 ml/min to 70 ml/min, the corresponding cooling capacity varied almost linearly from 20 W to 45 W. Animal testing showed 18 W of cooling delivered by the catheter can reduce heart tissue temperatures rapidly, approximately 3° in 5 min in some locations. Future animal testing work is needed to investigate if this cooling effect can save heart tissue.
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e-mail: merrill@rowan.edu
e-mail: deemerrill@focalcool.com
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September 2010
Design Innovations
Design of a Cooling Guide Catheter for Rapid Heart Cooling
Thomas L. Merrill,
Thomas L. Merrill
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: merrill@rowan.edu
Rowan University
, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028; FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
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Denise R. Merrill,
e-mail: deemerrill@focalcool.com
Denise R. Merrill
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
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Todd J. Nilsen,
e-mail: tnilsen@focalcool.com
Todd J. Nilsen
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
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Jennifer E. Akers
e-mail: jdocimo@focalcool.com
Jennifer E. Akers
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
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Thomas L. Merrill
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Rowan University
, 201 Mullica Hill Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028; FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062e-mail: merrill@rowan.edu
Denise R. Merrill
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062e-mail: deemerrill@focalcool.com
Todd J. Nilsen
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062e-mail: tnilsen@focalcool.com
Jennifer E. Akers
FocalCool, LLC
, 107 Gilbreth Parkway, Suite103, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062e-mail: jdocimo@focalcool.com
J. Med. Devices. Sep 2010, 4(3): 035001 (8 pages)
Published Online: August 31, 2010
Article history
Received:
March 8, 2010
Revised:
June 1, 2010
Online:
August 31, 2010
Published:
August 31, 2010
Citation
Merrill, T. L., Merrill, D. R., Nilsen, T. J., and Akers, J. E. (August 31, 2010). "Design of a Cooling Guide Catheter for Rapid Heart Cooling." ASME. J. Med. Devices. September 2010; 4(3): 035001. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4002063
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