Child chiller provides cooling cure

22 March 2013

Students at Johns Hopkins University have designed a low-cost, therapeutic hypothermia device designed to prevent brain damage in new born babies.

When babies are deprived of oxygen before birth, brain damage and disorders such as cerebral palsy can occur.

Extended cooling can prevent brain injuries, but this treatment is not always available in developing nations where advanced medical care is scarce.

Source: Will Kirk/Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins students designed this low-cost prototype to cool and prevent brain damage in oxygen-deprived babies in developing regions where advanced medical care is unavailable

To address this need, Johns Hopkins undergraduates have devised a low-tech $40 unit to provide protective cooling in the absence of modern hospital equipment that can cost $12,000.

Dubbed Cooling Cure, the device aims to lower a newborns temperature by about 6oF for three days, a treatment that has been shown to protect the child from brain damage if administered shortly after a loss of oxygen has occurred.

Common causes of this deficiency are knotting of the umbilical cord or a problem with the mothers placenta during a difficult birth. In developing regions, untrained delivery, anaemia and malnutrition during pregnancy can also contribute to oxygen deprivation.

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Child chiller provides cooling cure