Design and demonstration of a battery-less fluid warmer for combat.
BACKGROUND
Prehospital battlefield hypothermia remains an issue, with cold fluid resuscitation likely being a significant contributor. Currently, no prehospital battlefield technology exists to warm intravenous resuscitation fluids. Existing commercial fluid-warming technologies are either inadequate or unreliable or have an unacceptable weight and size, making them inappropriate for the austere combat environment. We propose the creation of a battery-less, flameless, portable, lowweight, small, chemically powered fluid warmer for the battlefield.


METHODS
A magnesium-based exothermic chemical reaction was used as the sole heating source. A low-weight, small insulated container was created to contain the reaction. The chemical reaction was manipulated to sustain fluid heating as long as required.


RESULTS
The exothermic reaction was used to boil a Fluorinert ™ liquid within an insulated container that heats resuscitation fluid passing through the heat exchanger. A working prototype device, 9 inches in length and 4 inches in diameter, was engineered and tested. Warming was maintained over a variety of clinically relevant flow rates.


CONCLUSIONS
A chemically based, safe, battery-less, flameless, lightweight fluid warmer was created. This technology could represent a significant remote capability currently unavailable on the battlefield.
Sidy
S
Ndao
Klavs F
KF
Jensen
George C
GC
Velmahos
David R
DR
King
D004867:Equipment Design; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006361:Heating; D007035:Hypothermia; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous; D012151:Resuscitation; D014947:Wounds and Injuries