While it may ring of some top secret government operation, it's actually the name of an innovative technology at New Hanover Regional Medical Center that helps protect a patient's brain from damage after cardiac arrest by lowering the body's temperature.

'Most patients who survive cardiac arrest are at risk for brain injury,' said Carolyn Brown, Clinical Education Specialist with the NHRMC Heart Center.

Cooling slows down the body's metabolism, giving the brain a chance to recover from the trauma of a cardiac arrest and the loss of blood flow. Without it, the body works harder as the organs compete for oxygenated blood. The resulting fever and swelling in the brain can cause severe brain damage.

Immediately following a cardiac arrest, a patient has four thin cooling pads that circulate cold saline directly applied to their chest and thigh areas. Arctic Sun's control module then begins lowering the patient's body temperature to a pre-set temperature, usually around 91 degrees, inducing mild hypothermia. Patients can remain in this state for up to 24 hours.

Arctic Sun is used on patients whose cardiac arrests occur both in and outside the hospital. According to Brown, about 20 NHRMC patients a year receive the Arctic Sun therapy.

Thaddeus Dunn, MD, critical care specialist at NHRMC, helped to bring the technology to Wilmington. 'Research shows that when an individual A has an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and is resuscitated, but comatose, if you can cool them for 24 hours, they have a better chance of waking up with good brain function,' he said.

Finding a way to protect brain function after someone has a heart attack outside the hospital has become a higher priority in recent years as more people are able to survive the initial attack.

'Ten years ago, it wouldn't be a big issue, because it was uncommon for them to come in resuscitated,' said Dr. Dunn. 'Now that automatic external defibrillators are small, portable, and easy to use, more people are getting their hearts shocked back into rhythm. The blood flow gets restored, but we need to allow the brain to come back, too.'

The Arctic Sun system was purchased by NHRMC in early 2006 and recognized as a breakthrough medical technology and named a runner up for the Wall Street Journal's 2006 Technology Innovation Award. New Hanover Regional was among the first hospitals in the state to offer this therapy.

Dr. Dunn said the impact of Arctic Sun on cardiac arrest patients has been impressive, allowing an increased number of them to return to a normal home life with little, if any, neurological impairment.

'It's amazing,' said Dr. Dunn. 'The numbers are significantly improved. We don't save them to send them to nursing homes. We are saving them so they can go back to normal, or near normal, lives.'

For more information on NHRMC's cardiac services, visit http://www.nhrmc.org/heart.