Patient Warming Device for Casualty Care

The intent of this phase 1 proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of forced air convective warming to prevent hypothermia among battlefield casualties. The consequences of hypothermia for trauma victims can be severe, and the technical requirements of providing safe warming therapy in the field are challenging. Unfortunately while the need is great, no product currently on the market acceptably meets this challenge. Convective warming is a safe, effective, and widely accepted means for treating hypothermia in hospitals and clinics. In order to run a portable convective warming device, alternative high energy-density power sources must be identified. Then it is necessary to control the energy source with enough confidence to meet the stringent demands of medical safety. Because of its uniform heat flow, we believe that convective warming has the best chance of doing this, as long as the energy source can be contained and managed. We have developed a device, the DCRTM ("direct contact rotating temperature mixer") that is likely to solve the problem. By building a working proof-of-concept prototype we will assess whether the DCRTM or equivalent meets the need for field warming.