Patent ID: 9662243
Date: 2017-05-30
CPC Classifications: A61F

Claim:
1. A method for modifying or controlling a body temperature in a mammalian subject, said method comprising the steps of: inserting, into the vasculature of the subject, a heat exchange catheter which comprises an elongate catheter shaft having an inflow lumen, an outflow lumen and a heat exchange region, wherein the heat exchange region comprises a tubular conduit, one end of said tubular conduit being connected to the heat exchange catheter's inflow lumen and the other end of said tubular conduit being connected to the heat exchange catheter's outflow lumen, a first segment of the tubular conduit having loops or convolutions of a first diameter or cross-dimension, said first segment forming a fluid supply flow path through which heat exchange fluid may flow in a distal direction from an end of the tubular conduit that is connected to the catheter inflow lumen and a second segment of the tubular conduit having loops or convolutions of a second diameter or cross-dimension, said second segment forming a fluid return flow path through which heat exchange fluid may return in a proximal direction to an end of the tubular conduit that is connected to the catheter's outflow lumen, wherein one of said first and second diameters or cross-dimensions is larger than the other of said first and second diameters or cross-dimensions; causing the heat exchange region to be positioned in contact with blood flowing through the subject's vasculature; and causing a heat exchange fluid to circulate in a distal direction through the inflow lumen, then through the loops or convolutions of the first diameter or cross-dimension of the fluid supply flow path and then in a proximal direction through the loops or convolutions of the second diameter or cross-dimension of the fluid return flow path, and then through the outflow lumen.