JP2876399B2 - Head and neck cooling device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head and neck cooling device. More specifically, for example, by cooling the head and neck during brain dysfunction, during and after surgery, the brain, brain stem,
The present invention relates to a head and neck cooling device capable of suppressing an excessive rise in the temperature of the spinal cord.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of medicine, for example, when various diseases such as sinusitis, cerebral dysfunction, stroke, brain tumor, head and neck trauma, traumatic cervical syndrome, etc. are reached, It is generally known that the temperature of the brain, brain stem and spinal cord increases. Excessive temperature rise in the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord causes biological enzyme reactions and inflammatory products to act,
Furthermore, for example, cerebral edema, cerebral hypertension, brain organ melting (dissolution,
It can cause serious secondary injuries, such as necrosis), which in turn can cause death.

Conventionally, the following means have been used as a method for artificially avoiding such an excessive rise in temperature of the brain, brain stem and spinal cord. First, a method by drug administration (usually, antipyretic or steroid hormone) can be mentioned. However, this method is very dangerous and is not a desirable method because there are individual differences in the efficacy of the drug and there is a possibility of causing side effects.

[0004] Next, there is a method based on whole body hypothermia treatment. This is a method in which the whole body is immersed or contained in a container filled with a refrigerant to lower the body temperature of the whole body. However, even with this method, the following disadvantages have been confirmed. 1. Exposure of the whole body to low temperatures for prolonged periods of time adversely affects the circulatory system. Specifically, it may cause serious irregular pulse such as ventricular fibrillation, which may lead to deterioration of cardiac function. Serious infections may occur due to reduced immunity. The blood coagulation system tends to bleed, and cerebral aneurysm may cause rebleeding or gastrointestinal bleeding. With a decrease in the total body temperature, tremor (tremor) may occur as a biological resistance reaction. Note that any of the above items has a risk of causing a fatal situation.

[0005] 2. In practice, it is necessary to apply general anesthesia to prevent the onset of the tremor described above. 3. Since the device for performing the whole body hypothermia treatment is a collective device in which an artificial respiration device, a bitile sign measuring device, and other special instruments are combined, the device itself becomes large. 4. Therefore, the device is expensive. 5. In the case of sinusitis, cerebral dysfunction, traumatic cervical syndrome, etc., it cannot be used due to the combination with the treatment method for the disease. 6. It is necessary to secure human resources with complicated and sophisticated skills such as handling of the above-mentioned measuring instruments and state management under general anesthesia.

The inventor of the present invention has conducted studies in view of such a situation, and as a result, has completed the present invention which solves the above-mentioned problems. The present invention does not affect the patient's circulatory system during use, does not cause tremor, does not require anesthesia, and has a simplified configuration and handling of the head and neck cooling device. The purpose is to provide.

[0007]

Means of the present invention taken to achieve the above object are as follows. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head-and-neck cooling device, which contains a liquid refrigerant therein, and covers the front to the back of the head and the back and neck when the head and neck are attached. A liquid refrigerant circulation device that sends the refrigerant to the cooling device main body and recovers the liquid refrigerant after passing through the inside; and a temperature controller that controls the temperature of the liquid refrigerant, the cooling device main body comprising: Is provided with means for dispersing the supplied liquid refrigerant so that the supplied liquid refrigerant is not biased. The head and neck cooling device is characterized in that:

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a head and neck cooling device which accommodates a liquid refrigerant therein and covers from the forehead to the occipital region and the upper part of the trapezius when the head and neck are worn. A main body, the liquid refrigerant is fed to the cooling device main body, a liquid refrigerant circulation device that recovers after passing through the inside, and a temperature control device that controls the temperature of the liquid refrigerant,
A head and neck cooling device, characterized in that a means for dispersing the liquid refrigerant is provided inside the cooling device main body so that the supplied liquid refrigerant is not biased. It is.

In a third aspect of the present invention, the means for dispersing the liquid refrigerant provided in the cooling device main body is a partition having a liquid refrigerant passage hole at a required position. It is a head and neck cooling device according to the first or second invention.

[0010]

[Operation] The cooling device main body covers the forehead to the occipital region and the back neck, and the liquid refrigerant circulation device feeds and collects the temperature-controlled liquid refrigerant into the cooling device main body. Therefore, only the region from the frontal region to the occipital region and the occipital region can be partially cooled. Thereby, for example, the brain at the time of brain dysfunction, during and after surgery,
Excessive temperature rise of the brain stem and spinal cord can be suppressed.
In addition, since the area to be cooled is partial, it does not affect the circulatory system and does not cause tremor, so that anesthesia is not required. If the area to be cooled is made narrower than that described above, cooling of the affected part cannot be performed sufficiently, so that the practical effect is reduced.

[0011] Further, since means for dispersing the supplied liquid refrigerant so that the supplied liquid refrigerant is not biased is provided inside the cooling device main body, the liquid refrigerant passes through the inside of the cooling device main body. There is little stagnation or stagnation when passing. Therefore, the liquid refrigerant can uniformly pass through the inside of the cooling device main body. This makes it difficult for the cooling device main body to have a temperature difference at each point, and can maintain a stable temperature state.

The cooling device main body covers the frontal region, the occipital region and the upper part of the trapezius muscle, and the liquid refrigerant circulating device supplies a liquid refrigerant whose temperature is controlled into the cooling device main body. The area to be cooled will be slightly wider than that shown above, for example, to suppress excessive temperature rise in the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord during cerebral dysfunction, during and after surgery. The effect that can be achieved can be more remarkably exhibited. If the area to be cooled is made wider than that described above, there is a possibility that a burden is imposed on the heart and the like. In this case, a special management device or the like for this purpose is additionally required, which is one of the disadvantages of the whole body hypothermia treatment described above, which is not preferable.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a head and neck cooling device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cooling device main body.
, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of the cooling device main body shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows a use state of the head and neck cooling device according to the present invention. It is the schematic explanatory drawing which omitted the control apparatus. The symbol K indicates a head and neck cooling device according to the present invention. This head and neck cooling device K
Is a cooling device main body 1 in which a liquid refrigerant (water in the present embodiment) is housed, and a liquid refrigerant that supplies the liquid refrigerant to the cooling device main body 1 and is collected after passing through the inside. It has a material circulation device 2 and a temperature control device for controlling the temperature of the liquid refrigerant.

The cooling device main body 1 is formed in a head width so that the rear portion 10 has a slightly hanging length, and has a structure in which a liquid refrigerant can be accommodated inside. This cooling device main body 1 has flexibility and is formed of a disinfectable material. Further, it is desirable that the surface be formed of a material that does not easily cause dew condensation. As the material, for example, a synthetic resin, a synthetic rubber, a natural rubber, or the like is used. In addition,
When mounted on the head and neck, the cooling device body 1 can cover from the frontal region a to the occipital region b and the upper part c of the trapezius (see FIG. 4).

In the upper part of the cooling device main body 1, that is, in the portion where the frontal part a and the back part b come into contact when the cooling device main body 1 is mounted, the partition wall 1 is radiated from the top.
.. Are provided. The partitions 11 are provided at eight locations at substantially equal intervals on the entire circumference, and each partition 11 has three liquid coolant passage holes 110 through which the liquid coolant can pass each other. Have been. A partition 12 having a liquid refrigerant passage hole 120 is also provided below the partition 11 on the back of the head b (see FIG. 2).

The rear part 10 of the cooling device main body 1 which is formed to have a hanging length, that is, the central part of the inside of the portion which comes into contact with the occipital region b and the upper part c of the trapezius muscle when the cooling device main body 1 is mounted. A partition 13 is provided in the vertical direction so as to partition the left and right sides. A liquid refrigerant passage hole 130 is also formed in the partition 13 (see FIG. 3).

The position where the partition wall is provided is not particularly limited, and can be set as appropriate.

A connector for connecting the other end of the feed tube 22 whose one end is connected to the liquid refrigerant circulation device 2 described below is provided at the lower part of the rear portion 10 formed to the hanging length of the cooling device main body 1. 14 are provided. A connector 15 for connecting the other end of the collection tube 23 whose one end is connected to the liquid refrigerant circulation device 2 is also provided at the top of the cooling device main body 1. In addition, a through hole 16 is formed in a portion that comes into contact with the ear when the cooling device main body 1 is mounted.

The liquid refrigerant circulation device 2 includes a pump 20, a pressure gauge 21, a supply tube 22, and a recovery tube 23. Since these are publicly known, detailed description is omitted. One end of the above-described feed tube 22 is connected to the outlet side feed port 200 of the liquid refrigerant provided in the pump 20, and one end of the recovery tube 23 is connected to the inlet side recovery port 201. I have. A pressure gauge 21 for measuring the pressure of the liquid refrigerant at the time of feeding is provided near the outlet side feeding port 200 of the pump 20.

The temperature control device includes a heat exchanger 30 and temperature sensors 31, 31. Since a well-known one is also used, a detailed description is omitted. The heat exchanger 30 is provided so as to communicate with the above-described liquid storage portion inside the pump 20. However, the position where the heat exchanger 30 is provided is not limited to this. In addition, temperature sensor 3
Reference numerals 1 and 31 are provided at required positions of the feeding tube 22 and the collecting tube 23, respectively.

The liquid refrigerant is not particularly limited as long as it has fluidity. In the present embodiment, water is used as described above.

(Operation) The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Head and neck cooling device K
By cooling the head and neck at the time of cerebral dysfunction, during and after surgery, excessive temperature rise in the brain, brain stem and spinal cord can be suppressed. First, the cooling device main body 1 is mounted on the head and neck of a patient, and covers from the frontal region a to the occipital region b and the upper part c of the trapezius muscle. Then, the pump 20 is operated, and the liquid refrigerant is supplied to the cooling device main body 1 through the supply tube 22.

The liquid refrigerant fed into the cooling device main body 1 rises from the lower side while passing through the liquid refrigerant passage holes 110, 120 and 130, and is collected from the top. The liquid refrigerant is collected again by the pump 20 via the collection tube 23. That is, the liquid refrigerant is circulated by the pump 20.

The temperature of the liquid refrigerant is controlled by temperature sensors 31, 31 provided in the feed tube 22 and the recovery tube 23 during circulation, and the liquid refrigerant is stored in the pump 20. When the heat exchanger 30
Is controlled so as to maintain a temperature of approximately 0 ° C. to 10 ° C.

Further, a pressure gauge 21 for measuring the pressure of the liquid refrigerant at the time of feeding is provided near the outlet side feed port 200 of the pump 20, so that the output state of the pump 20 can be visually checked. Can be.

According to the head and neck cooling device K, only the region from the frontal region a to the occipital region b and the upper part c of the trapezius can be partially cooled. It does not affect the organs or require anesthesia due to the onset of tremor. In the case where the area to be cooled is made wider than that described above,
There is a possibility that a burden is imposed on the heart and the like. In this case, a special management device or the like for this purpose is additionally required, which is one of the drawbacks of the whole body hypothermia treatment method, which is not preferable.

Further, since the partitions 11, 12, and 13 in which the liquid coolant passage holes 110, 120, and 130 are formed are provided at various places inside the cooling device body 1, the liquid coolant can be cooled. It is less likely to be stagnant or stagnant when passing through the inside of a vehicle. Therefore, the liquid refrigerant can uniformly pass through the inside of the cooling device main body 1.
This makes it difficult for the cooling device main body 1 to generate a temperature difference at each point, and can maintain a stable temperature state.

Since the cooling device body 1 has flexibility,
Easy to adapt to the shape of the head and neck. Therefore, the head and neck cooling device K
Is not affected by the shape of the head and neck during use.
Further, since a certain amount of pressure acts on the mounted head and neck, the head and neck can be held in a stable state.

As described above, since the head and neck cooling device K has a simple structure, it is easier to manufacture than the conventional whole body hypothermia treatment device. In addition, since special equipment such as a measuring instrument for whole body management is not required, it is easy to handle and there is no need to secure human resources having complicated advanced skills.

The terms and expressions used in this specification are illustrative only and are not intended to be limiting. Terms and expressions equivalent to the features described in this specification and some of them are not limited to these terms and expressions. There is no intention to exclude expression. It goes without saying that various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

[0031]

The present invention has the above configuration and has the following effects. (A) Since the cooling device main body covers the forehead to the occipital region and the back neck portion, the liquid refrigerant circulation device feeds and collects the liquid refrigerant whose temperature is controlled into the cooling device main body. Only the region from the frontal region to the occipital region and the occipital region can be partially cooled. This allows
For example, it is possible to suppress an excessive rise in temperature of the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord during cerebral dysfunction, during and after surgery. In addition, since the area to be cooled is partial, it does not affect the circulatory system and does not cause tremor, so that anesthesia is not required. If the area to be cooled is made narrower than that described above, cooling of the affected part cannot be performed sufficiently, so that the practical effect is reduced.

(B) Since a means for dispersing the supplied liquid refrigerant is provided inside the main body of the cooling device so that the liquid refrigerant is not biased, the liquid refrigerant can be dispersed inside the main body of the cooling device. There is little stagnation or stagnation when passing through. Therefore, the liquid refrigerant can uniformly pass through the inside of the cooling device main body. This makes it difficult for the cooling device main body to have a temperature difference at each point, and can maintain a stable temperature state.

(C) The cooling device main body covers the frontal region, the occipital region, and the upper part of the trapezius muscle, and the liquid refrigerant material whose temperature is controlled is sent into the cooling device main body by the liquid refrigerant material circulating device. In the case of feeding and collecting, since the area to be cooled is slightly wider than that shown above, for example, excessive temperature rise of the brain, brain stem, spinal cord during cerebral dysfunction or during or after surgery The effect of being able to be suppressed can be further remarkably exhibited. If the area to be cooled is made wider than that described above, there is a possibility that a burden is imposed on the heart and the like. In this case,
Separately, equipment such as a special management device for this is required, which is one of the disadvantages of the whole body hypothermia treatment described above, which is not preferable.

(D) Since the head and neck cooling device has a simple structure, it is easier to manufacture than a conventional whole body hypothermia treatment device. In addition, since special equipment such as a measuring instrument for whole body management is not required, it is easy to handle and there is no need to secure human resources having complicated advanced skills.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a head and neck cooling device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3 showing a cooling device main body.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of the cooling device main body shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a use state of the head and neck cooling device according to the present invention, in which the liquid refrigerant circulation device and the temperature control device are omitted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 K head and neck cooling device a frontal region b occipital region c upper part of trapezius 1 cooling device main body 10 rear portion 11,12,13 partition wall 110,120,130 liquid refrigerant passage hole 14,15 connector 16 hole 2 liquid refrigerant Circulation device 20 Pump 200 Outlet-side feed port 201 Inlet-side recovery port 21 Pressure gauge 22 Feed tube 23 Recovery tube 30 Heat exchanger 31 Temperature sensor

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A head-and-neck cooling device, comprising: a cooling device main body that accommodates a liquid refrigerant therein and covers from the forehead to the back of the head and the back and neck when the head and neck are mounted; A liquid refrigerant circulation device that feeds to the cooling device main body and recovers the liquid refrigerant after passing through the inside, and a temperature control device that controls the temperature of the liquid refrigerant, is provided inside the cooling device main body. And a means for dispersing the supplied liquid refrigerant so that the liquid refrigerant is not biased. 2. A head-and-neck cooling device, comprising: a cooling device main body that accommodates a liquid refrigerant therein and covers from the forehead to the occipital region and the upper part of the trapezius muscle when the head and neck are worn; And a temperature control device for controlling the temperature of the liquid refrigerant, and a temperature control device for controlling the temperature of the liquid refrigerant. The head and neck cooling device is provided with means for dispersing the supplied liquid refrigerant so that the liquid refrigerant is not biased. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the means for dispersing the liquid refrigerant provided inside the cooling device main body is a partition having a liquid refrigerant passage hole at a required position. Head and neck cooling device.