Theoretical limits on brain cooling by external head cooling devices

Numerous experimental studies have demonstrated that mild hypothermia is a rather promising therapy for acute brain injury in neonates. Because measurement of the resultant cooling of human brain in vivo is beyond current technology, an understanding of physical factors limiting the possible brain cooling would be a substantial achievement. Herein brain cooling by external head cooling devices is studied within the framework of an analytical model of temperature distribution in the brain. Theoretical limits on brain hypothermia induced by such devices are established. Analytical expressions are obtained that allow evaluation of changes in brain temperature under the influence of measurable input parameters. We show that a mild hypothermia can be successfully induced in neonates only if two necessary conditions are fulfilled: sufficiently low cerebral blood flow and sufficiently high value of the heat transfer coefficient describing the heat exchange between the head surface and a cooling device.