Hypothermia.
Conditions
Keywords
hypothermia, induced, rewarming, therapeutic, heart arrest, asystole, frostbite
Brief summary
Cooling the whole body to 32-34 degrees Centigrade from the normal of around 37 degrees Centigrade for 24 hours has been shown to be an effective way of reducing damage to brain function after return of spontaneous circulation when someone has been resuscitated from cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is a form of heart attack where the heart stops pumping. The device is a prototype cooling vest. The investigators anticipate that this will be useful in ambulances, helicopters and emergency departments where there is a need for a portable, safe, easy-to-use, inexpensive, external, effective, readily-controlled and single-patient use device able to reduce body temperature by at least 1 degree Centigrade an hour to initiate cooling. What the investigators are doing in these trials is to demonstrate that the investigators can cool people and to get the best design possible for patient use. That means some of the initial prototypes will not resemble what we expect the eventual device to look like. The investigators will be undertaking the initial trials on 30 normal volunteers.
Interventions
DEVICECooling
Temperature reached Duration of exposure to cold.
Sponsors
Bodychillz Ltd
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Human volunteers aged over 18. The upper age limit, as is standard for risk mitigation in such studies, is 35. The volunteer must have capacity to understand the trial and give informed consent to participate. If the volunteer's first language is not English we will make use of Sussex Interpreting Services, a professional interpreting service.
Exclusion criteria
Pregnancy. Any disclosed medical condition. Any medical condition detected on examination. Core temperature outside stated parameters. We will ask the volunteer to confirm that they are otherwise healthy, taking no regular medication (except the oral contraceptive pill), are not using recreational drugs and have no significant past medical history, in particular cardiovascular disease of any sort, thyroid disease, diabetes mellitus or other metabolic disease.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Reduction in core body temperature by 1 degree Centigrade. | 1 hour. | The cooling properties of the vest are under investigation, and this reduction is the primary outcome measure. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skin condition. | 3 days. | As the cooling is performed by a cold vest applied directly to the skin we need to ensure that no skin damage is caused. |
| ECG abnormalities. | 3 hours. | ECG abnormalities: ECG abnormalities are common after cardiac arrest, and have been noted in cooled patients after cardiac arrest. We will monitor the ECG for any abnormalities. The following will be noted but will not terminate the study: Bradycardia of less than 15 beats per minute below baseline. Unifocal ventricular ectopics. Unifocal atrial ectopics. Any other cardiac abnormality will cause immediate termination of the study and intervention to treat as necessary. A defibrillator will be available in the study room. |
| Sepsis. | 3 days. | Sepsis: Increased rates of sepsis have been seen in intensive care units in patients who have received therapeutic hypothermia. We will enquire about sepsis symptoms in our follow-up contact. |
Countries
United Kingdom
Contacts
Primary ContactRowland L Cottingham, FRCS FCEM
Outcome results
None listed