SINGAPORE - A wearable cooling device that can help protect a patient's brain and other vital organs following a cardiac arrest has been developed by doctors from the Singapore General Hospital and an industry partner, Global Healthcare SG.
"Research has shown that cooling the body to about 34 degrees is one of the best ways to preserve brain function after cardiac arrest." A study by researchers from SGH, the National University of Singapore and the National Heart Centre Singapore found that the CarbonCool suit can cool a patient’s body to 34 deg C in an average of 73 minutes, said SGH senior clinical research coordinator Nur Shahidah Ahmad, the study’s main author.
While other commercial cooling machines exist on the market, they are relatively expensive. A machine that circulates coolant in a single-use wearable suit is used in the hospital's intensive care unit, but it costs about US$1,000 per use, said Prof Ong. The machine is also bulky and cannot be used effectively in an ambulance.
She added that it does not have to be removed when a patient undergoes X-ray scans, computed tomography scans or magnetic resonance imaging .From 2010 to 2015, 84 patients were given TTM using ice packs and cold saline. The suit was then introduced and used on another 40 patients from 2015 to 2017.
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