A novel thermoelectric cooling device using Peltier modules for inducing local hypothermia of the spinal cord: The effect of local electrically controlled cooling for the treatment of spinal cord injuries in conscious rats

We developed a novel thermoelectric cooling device using Peltier modules for the treatment of spinal cord injury in rats. The extracorporeal electrically cooling component was attached to the aluminum arched plate which was placed on the surface of the spinal cord after the contusion injury in the 11th thoracic spinal cord. During the hypothermic treatment, rats were awake and could move in the cage. Hind limb motor function, evaluated using a BBB scale, in the hypothermic animals (33 °C for 48 h) was significantly higher than that in the normothermic animals from 2 weeks to 8 weeks after the injury.

► We developed a novel thermoelectric cooling device for the treatment of spinal cord injury.
► Hypothermic treatment improved hind limb motor function after spinal cord injury.
► TNF-α content in the injured spinal cord tissue was inhibited by hypothermic treatment.