Case Studies

Chilling Out with Simulation
Ice slurry cools kidneys to extend surgery time

Surgeons performing laparoscopic kidney operations face strict time limitations. The major blood vessels to the kidney must be clamped prior to surgery, but doctors have only a thirty-minute window before clamping-produced ischemia damages the organ. If there were a reliable way to cool the kidney, tissue deterioration from lack of oxygen could be slowed, delaying organ damage and extending surgery times for longer operations such as removing large tumors.

To address this need, the Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne, Ill.), in partnership with the University of Chicago Medical School, has developed a series of ice micro-particulate ice slurry coolants. “We’ve worked on these slurries for more than 10 years; first for industrial application and then starting six years ago, with emergency room physicians, nephrologists , cardiologists, neurologists, and brain specialists,” says Ken Kasza (PhD), a senior mechanical engineer in the Energy Technology Division at Argonne. “With their help, we’ve been able to create a number of promising slurry formulations and medical applications.”

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