Patent ID: 7833180

Claim:
A method of managing a patient's core body temperature by applying temperature-controlled liquid to a body part of the patient, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a chamber including liquid, the body part being positioned in the liquid and substantially isolated from conditions external to the chamber; (b) warming or cooling the liquid, thereby causing a thermal reaction in which the blood in the body part is warmed or cooled by the liquid; (c) alternately (i) applying a negative pressure within the chamber for a pooling period of between 8 and 12 seconds, thereby increasing the volume and velocity of blood that is warmed or cooled in the body part by the liquid and (ii) releasing the negative pressure within the chamber for an emptying period of between 5 and 9 seconds, thereby forcing an increased volume of warmed or cooled blood from the body part to other regions of the patient's body through the patient's circulatory system, the emptying period being different than the pooling period; and (d) circulating the liquid in the chamber while alternately applying and releasing negative pressure.