Therapeutic limb hypothermia for the treatment of traumatic acute limb ischemia

Abstract

Acute limb ischaemia (ALI) is an emergent clinical condition that strains pre-hospital resources and impacts healthcare costs and patient quality of life. Hypothermia has long been used in clinical and research settings to mitigate ischaemic damage in tissues, but prompt reperfusion is needed to prevent loss of limb or function from ALI. To address the unmet need for pre-hospital intervention of threatened limbs awaiting definitive specialty care, we have focused on controlled application of hypothermia. Over years of animal experiments, phantom limb creation, and materials selection, we conceptualised and created a portable limb-cooling device that can be used alone or combined with a traditional tourniquet or resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta. Here, we describe our process of building and testing the device, from computer simulation through animal-limb metabolic studies, to prototype testing.