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Abstract

A tool that lowers the temperature of the heart during surgery or other times when blood flow to the heart is cut off. The tool has the appearance of a spoon and includes an elongate handle part and a heart-cradling part at the end of the handle. A first passageway formed in the handle delivers a continuous flow of cold liquid to the rim of the heart-cradling part of the tool and the cold liquid flows continuously out of perforations formed about the rim of that part of the tool for as long as refrigeration is needed. The tool is made of an uninsulated material so that the heart is cooled as the cold liquid flows out of the perforations and manifold is connected to the bottom wall of the heart-cradling part of the spoon and those apertures are in fluid communication, through a second passageway formed in the handle, with a source of negative pressure so that cold liquid that collects in the thoracic cavity below the heart of a supine patient is removed by connecting the second passageway to the source of negative pressure.

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First Claim