Patent ID: 8911485

Claim:
A heat exchange catheter system useable to cool blood flowing through the vasculature of a human or animal subject, said system comprising: a heat exchange catheter comprising a catheter body having a proximal end, a distal end, a first lumen, a second lumen and a heat exchange balloon, said heat exchange balloon comprising a plurality of balloon lobes, said balloon lobes being connected to the first and second lumens of the catheter such that thermal exchange fluid will flow through the first lumen, circulate through the balloon lobes, and then flow out of the second lumen, each of said balloon lobes having a wall thickness of less than approximately 0.00065 inches, said heat exchange balloon having a collapsed configuration of a first diameter D 1 and an inflated configuration of a second diameter D 2 , wherein D 2 is at least about 3.5 times greater than D 1 , wherein D 1 is less than about 8 mm and D 2 is greater than about 14 mm, and further wherein said heat exchange balloon has a cross sectional perimeter greater than 1.5 inches when in the inflated configuration; a fluid cooling apparatus comprising a heat exchanger and a condenser for chilling a coolant fluid, the heat exchanger having a first flowpath through which thermal exchange fluid circulates and a second flowpath through which the chilled coolant fluid circulates, the heat exchanger's first flowpath being isolated from the second flowpath, the heat exchanger's first flowpath being connected to the catheter such that thermal exchange fluid which exits the second lumen of the catheter will circulate through the heath exchanger's first flowpath and flow back into the first lumen of the catheter; wherein the catheter body, fluid cooling apparatus and heat exchange balloon are sized, configured and constructed to render the system capable of cooling the subject's core body temperature from a normothermic temperature to a core body temperature at or below about 34 degrees C. in less than thirty minutes.