A positive displacement pump that triggers with the beating of a mammalian heart, through the monitoring of an ECG signal is disclosed. A programmable delay from the detection of the forthcoming contraction of the heart enables the pump to syncopate the ejection of the fluid with the events occurring in the cardiovascular system. This delayed ejection could be used to overlay the ejected fluid from the pump with a pressure wave in the artery of systemic circulation through a catheter connection between the pump and a physiological model (e.g., cow, dog, human). The outcome of this use could be to raise the pulse pressure in the system to take advantage of physiological pathways that respond to this transient change in blood pressure. The novelty of this system stems from the adaptable control architecture designed to augment the pulsatile characteristics of the cardiovascular system. This inventive concept could be expanded to encompass the augmentation (dampen or enhance) of pulsatile characteristics in any oscillating flow system.

The present disclosure comprises a pre and post anesthetic cooling apparatus, system, and method for using thereof. In an embodiment, an anesthetic cooling device comprises a wand comprising a proximal end and a distal end opposite the proximal end, a thermoelectric module disposed within the wand having a cold side and a hot side, a TEM heat exchanger disposed within wand and connected to the hot side of the thermoelectric module, wherein a coolant circulates into the TEM heat exchanger through a wand inlet and out of the TEM heat exchanger through a wand outlet, a tip located at the distal end of the wand and connected to the TEM heat exchanger through a thermal conductor; wherein thermal energy is transferred from the tip to the coolant via the thermal conductor and the TEM heat exchanger.

An intravenous fluid conditioning system includes a housing having a first chamber and a second chamber. A volume of heat transfer medium is located in the first chamber and the second chamber. A first intravenous fluid line extends through the first chamber and a second intravenous fluid line extends through the second chamber. One or more thermoelectric devices are located in the housing, such that a first side of each of the one or more thermoelectric devices is in thermal communication with the first chamber and a second side of each of the one or more thermoelectric devices opposite the first side is in thermal communication with the second chamber. The one or more thermoelectric devices exchange thermal energy with a volume of intravenous fluid selectably flowed through the first intravenous fluid line or the second intravenous fluid line to condition the intravenous fluid.

A thermal control system for controlling a temperature of a fluid delivered to a patient is provided. The system includes a thermal control unit having a fluid inlet and outlet, a circulation channel, a pump, a heat exchanger, a fluid temperature sensor and a controller that controls the heat exchanger in order to automatically bring a patients temperature to a target temperature. In some embodiments, the control unit includes a user interface adapted to receive a non-temperature patient parameter (e.g. BMI) that the controller uses, along with patient core temperature readings, to control the heat exchanger. The controller may also or alternatively control the heat exchanger based on both core and peripheral patient temperature readings. An auxiliary thermal therapy device for controlling a temperature of the patients blood, air breathed by the patient, and/or other fluid, may also be controlled by the thermal control unit.

A working fluid cassette for an intravascular heat exchange catheter includes a frame holding two closely spaced, square polymeric membranes along the sides of which are disposed inlet and outlet tubes. Working fluid from the catheter is directed from the inlet tube between the membranes to the outlet tube. The cassette is closely received between two refrigerant cold plates to exchange heat with the working fluid, which is circulated back to the catheter.

A method for treatment of a brain and/or spinal cord includes inserting a flexible catheter into a cerebrospinal fluid space, the flexible catheter including two lumens adapted to allow a fluid to circulate therein in a closed loop within the flexible catheter and the flexible catheter being adapted to be connected to a device for cooling and circulating the fluid. The cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebrospinal fluid space is cooled with the flexible catheter to enable selective central nervous system cooling. The functional status of the brain and/or spinal cord is monitored, and the treatment of the brain and/or spinal cord is modified to adjust for any change in the functional status of the brain and/or spinal cord.

Dialysis machines comprising a feed arrangement (170) to supply a dialysis fluid to a dialyzer (150) during dialysis treatment and a return arrangement (171) to remove the dialysis fluid from the dialyzer during dialysis treatment and forward it to an exit (129); a feed recirculation circuit (172) to allow a fluid of the feed arrangement to be re-circulated in a fluid loop path comprising, at least a portion of, the feed arrangement and the feed recirculation circuit and a return recirculation circuit (173) to allow a fluid of the return arrangement to re-circulate in an auxiliary fluid loop path comprising, at least a portion of, the return arrangement and the return recirculation circuit. A controller (160) configured to perform disinfection by re-circulating a disinfectant and/or a heated fluid through said fluid loop path and/or through said auxiliary fluid loop path. The dialysis machine (1) further comprises a feed forward arrangement (172) connected to the fluid loop path and arranged to enable a fluid of the feed arrangement (170) to be forwarded to the exit (129) by-passing the auxiliary fluid loop path.

The present invention provides a hollow fiber membrane oxygenator comprising a housing comprising a blood flow path; a blood inlet port and a blood outlet port disposed in the housing so as to allow blood to flow through the blood flow path; a gas exchange part comprising a bundle of a plurality of hollow fiber membranes disposed in the blood flow path, a gas inflow port and a gas outflow port provided in the housing so as to allow an oxygen-containing gas to flow through lumens of the hollow fiber membranes, and a gas temperature control part for adjusting the temperature of a gas flowing through the lumens of the hollow fiber membranes.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for controlling a patient's body temperature and in particular for inducing therapeutic hypothermia. Various embodiments of the system are described. The system includes: a source of breathing gas, which may be in the form of a compressed breathing gas mixture; a heat exchanger or other heating and/or cooling device; and a breathing interface, such as a breathing mask or tracheal tube. Optionally, the system may include additional features, such as a mechanical respirator, a nebulizer for introducing medication into the breathing gas, a body temperature probe and a feedback controller. The system can use air or a specialized breathing gas mixture, such as He/O.sub.2 or SF/O.sub.2 to increase the heat transfer rate. In addition, the system may include an ice particle generator for introducing fine ice particles into the flow of breathing gas to further increase the heat transfer rate.

An aroma diffusion system includes an aroma diffusion unit, an acquisition unit, an identification unit, and an aroma determination unit. The aroma diffusion unit has a plurality of patterns of aromas to be diffused, and diffuses an aroma corresponding to the pattern into a target space. The acquisition unit acquires person information relating to at least one of an activity and a mood of a person in the target space. The identification unit identifies at least one of the activity and the mood of the person in the target space, based on the person information acquired by the acquisition unit. The aroma determination unit determines the pattern of the aroma diffusion unit, based on a result of the identification by the identification unit.