For the past few years, Todd Brinton, MD, has sat on the board of directors and acted as clinical consultant for Qool Therapeutics. The company was recently awarded the first TCT Innovation award for its development of a noninvasive system to rapidly induce therapeutic hypothermia through inhalation of frozen saline.

The system works by exposing the lungs to micro particles of frozen saline, which rapidly reduces the core body temperature to 32° to 35° Centigrade, slowing the metabolism to prevent damage to cells. Brinton explains: “It’s a noninvasive cooling approach that allows us to cool the body more efficiently and doesn’t disrupt the flow of care.”

The new award, presented by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), recognizes promising cardiovascular technologies, and gives early-stage companies validation that they’re on the right track.

“It’s a vote of confidence that we’ve done the right things, we’ve been able to build a system.” Brinton said.

A panel of international experts selected the technology because it “highly considers cost-effectiveness in today’s health care environment and improving patient outcomes with global scalability,” said Juan F. Granada, MD, executive director and chief innovation officer of the CRF Skirball Center for Innovation, in an official press release.

Brinton and his Palo Alto-based team are now transitioning to the development phase – refining their prototype, continuing animal studies, raising capital and building a team. Preliminary data from animal studies suggests that the technology has been tolerated, and can “cool an animal at a faster rate than any technology we’ve seen so far.” The company hopes to begin human trials within 24 months.