Patent ID: 7485109

Claim:
A system for controlling the temperature of a target tissue region inside the body, the system comprising: a catheter for providing cooled fluid cooled below normal human body temperature of about 37 degrees Celsius to the tissue region and for controlling normal blood flow of oxygenated blood at a normal human body temperature of about 37 degrees Celsius to the tissue region, the catheter having an occluder for controlling normal blood flow to the tissue region, the catheter having an infusion lumen for providing the cooled fluid from outside the body to the tissue region, the infusion lumen having an entry point at a proximal end of the catheter and an exit point distal of the occluder; and a control system programmed to control the amount of the cooled fluid that the catheter provides to the tissue region and an amount of the oxygenated blood that flows past the occluder so as to cool and to maintain, for an extended period of time, the tissue region within a target temperature range that is below normal body temperature, wherein the control system is programmed so that the tissue region is not deprived of oxygenated blood for any continuous period of time of a predetermined period of time or greater while the cooled fluid is being provided to the tissue region.