LV Patent
 
Alcor has traditionally and consistently used whole-body immersive ice baths to rapidly cool our patients in the field, chilling them during transport until cryoprotectant perfusion begins. This is because hypothermic conditions slow the metabolism and extend the biological viability of our cells. This method of full-immersion ice bath external cooling has been generally considered the standard of care for Alcor patients. However, cryonics researchers have been working for several decades to develop a potentially more efficient and portable intra-lung cooling system that can be used in the field. We refer to this corporeal cooling system as Liquid Ventilation, or LV for short. 

Liquid ventilation has a higher theoretical cooling efficiency than the ice bath because of the central location of the lungs in the body and their intimate proximity to the circulatory system. Despite this, it’s mainly due to difficulties with protecting patient lungs from excessive forces during active chest compressions that the promise of a safe LV system for cryonics patients has eluded us. We hope that through clever design, programming, and modern control systems, this safety risk can be carefully monitored and circumvented.  

The research team at Alcor has recently submitted an Alcor-assigned patent for a Liquid Ventilation cooling process that aims to solve this problem. It does this using direct intra-lung pressure sensing and novel fluid infusion and extraction timing methods, among other claims. A second major claim of Alcor’s LV patent application provides the promise of field portability, a self-contained system which can be carried by one person. We believe that while initially very beneficial to our member/patients, our LV invention could someday see use as a life-saving device providing portable therapeutic hypothermia in mainstream and/or military medicine.
 
Steve Graber
Director of Innovation
Alcor Life Extension Foundation