Patent ID: 8777936

Claim:
A cooling device for cooling a catheter, the cooling device comprising a main cooling unit adapted for supplying the catheter with a main cooling medium; a precooling unit adapted for precooling the main cooling medium before supply of the main cooling medium to the catheter; wherein the main cooling unit comprises a cooling pathway through which a fluid is guidable as the main cooling medium; the cooling device further comprising a control unit adapted for automatically controlling the main cooling unit and the precooling unit to perform a predetermined cooling procedure, wherein the control unit is adapted for activating the precooling unit before activating a supply of the main cooling medium by the main cooling unit to the catheter; a heat exchanger arranged to provide a thermal coupling between the main cooling unit and the precooling unit; and a bypass line comprising a valve for selectively connecting a first position of the cooling pathway upstream the precooling unit with a second position of the cooling pathway downstream the catheter so that after terminating supply of the fluid to the catheter, the valve is openable to connect the first position and the second position, wherein the bypass line comprising the valve further comprises a coupling portion which is guided through the heat exchanger; wherein the control unit is adapted for supplying, after activating, the catheter with a main cooling power having a first value, which is larger than a second value of the main cooling power supplied to the catheter at a later stage, wherein the cooling device is adapted to adjust the precooling to be more efficient at a beginning than at a later stage, and wherein the precooling unit comprises a thermoelectric cooling element.