Patent ID: 8506494

Claim:
A heat exchange catheter system comprising: an elongate, flexible catheter body a distal portion of which is insertable into the vasculature of a patient; a heat transfer surface disposed on less than the entirety of the distal insertable portion of the catheter body, said heat transfer surface comprising metal and having different thermal conductivity than the remainder of the distal insertable portion of the catheter body; and apparatus for alternately warming or cooling the heat transfer surface; wherein the catheter body has a proximal end, a distal end, a heat exchange inflow lumen through which heat exchange fluid is deliverable from the proximal end of the catheter body to the area of the catheter body where the heat exchange surface is located and a heat exchange return lumen through which said heat exchange fluid may flow from the area of the catheter body where the heat exchange surface is located and back out of the proximal end of the catheter body.