Feasibility Study of a Novel High-Flow Cold Air Cooling Protocol of the Porcine Brain Using MRI Temperature Mapping

Early, prehospital cooling seeks to reduce and control the body temperature as early as possible to protect the brain and improve patient outcome in cardiac arrest, stroke, and traumatic brain injury. In this study, we investigate the feasibility of localized cooling of the porcine brain by using a novel high-flow cold air protocol, which utilizes the close proximity between the nasal cavity and the brain. Five adult pigs were anesthetized and temperature change was mapped before, during, and after cooling by using the proton resonance frequency method on a 3 T Siemens Magnetom Skyra system. Cooling was performed by inserting a tube blowing high-flow (250 L/min) cold air (-10°C) through the nasal cavity for 5-20 minutes. The brain temperature change was measured by using an MRI phase mapping technique utilizing the temperature-dependent proton resonance frequency change. MRI maps showed significant temperature reduction of the porcine brain. On average, a mean whole-brain cooling effect of -0.33°C ± 0.30°C was found after 5 minutes of cooling. The anterior part of the brain was directly exposed to the cold and showed a significantly larger temperature drop (-0.83°C ± 0.51°C) than the posterior part (-0.03°C ± 0.21°C). However, a large variability of the temperature drop was observed between the animals. This variability may be caused by not well-controlled factors confounding the MRI temperature mapping, for example, subject movement, or cooling effectiveness, for example, core temperature or nasal patency. The results indicate that the proposed high-flow cold air protocol allows for localized cooling of the frontal porcine brain, which may be clinically relevant for traumatic injuries of the frontal brain where systemic cooling is unfavorable.