Non-invasive aortic impingement and core and cerebral temperature manipulation method

摘要

A method of non-invasively occluding the descending thoracic aorta to a desired extent in order to enhance cerebral and myocardial perfusion or the like, and/or of manipulating core and cerebral temperature of a patient, wherein a device is extended into the patient's esophagus and manipulated to selectively displace a wall of the esophagus toward the descending thoracic aorta to thereby at least partially occlude the latter, and/or to exchange heat between a device positioned in the patient's esophagus and a proximately located thoracic vessel in order to increase or decrease the temperature of blood flowing in such vessel.