An under-wraps Silicon Valley startup that describes itself as “the cold cure for brain injury” has secured $1.5 million in financing.
NeuroSave Inc. CEO Seth Rodgers said the company still has a little ways to go before it can begin talking in detail about its product. But a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office record filed by the company in 2010 refers to a medical apparatus used to induce therapeutic hypothermia by circulating cooling liquid in and around the body through tubes in the esophagus, trachea or pharynx.
Research has found that lowering a patient’s body temperature soon after cardiac arrest or traumatic brain injury can be a way to slow brain cells’ metabolism and prevent life-threatening brain damage. Hypothermia can be induced externally with the use of ice packs or cooling blankets, or invasively through cooling catheters or ice-cold IV saline.
There are a few other companies innovating in this space, including Cryothermic Systems, Life Recovery Systems and BeneChill, a company that’s partnered with Physio-Control and has the CE Mark for a fast-evaporating liquid that cools the brain when it’s squirted up the nose.
