Conventional cooling techniques for surgery include cold jackets and ice baths which can take hours to reach the desired temperature at an organ site.  Researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago are developing a new approach: they pump an “ice slurry” through an IV catheter directly into the patient’s blood stream (so far, the patients being large animals).  For laparoscopic kidney surgery, this method could achieve the right temperature in minutes while minimizing the risk of CNS damage.    MORE