• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

MassDevice

The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice

  • Latest News
  • Technologies
    • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
    • Cardiovascular
    • Orthopedics
    • Neurological
    • Diabetes
    • Surgical Robotics
  • Business & Finance
    • Wall Street Beat
    • Earnings Reports
    • Funding Roundup
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Initial Public Offering (IPO)
    • Legal News
    • Personnel Moves
    • Medtech 100 Stock Index
  • Regulatory & Compliance
    • Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
    • Recalls
    • 510(k)
    • Pre-Market Approval (PMA)
    • MDSAP
    • Clinical Trials
  • Special Content
    • Special Reports
    • In-Depth Coverage
    • DeviceTalks
  • Podcasts
    • MassDevice Fast Five
    • DeviceTalks Weekly
    • OEM Talks
      • AbbottTalks
      • Boston ScientificTalks
      • DeviceTalks AI
      • IntuitiveTalks
      • MedtechWOMEN Talks
      • MedtronicTalks
      • Neuro Innovation Talks
      • Ortho Innovation Talks
      • Structural Heart Talks
      • StrykerTalks
  • Resources
    • About MassDevice
    • DeviceTalks
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Leadership in Medtech
    • Manufacturers & Suppliers Search
    • MedTech100 Index
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
Home » Life Core jumps into therapeutic hypothermia market

Life Core jumps into therapeutic hypothermia market

January 26, 2011 By MedCity News

LifeCore logo

An Ohio startup is hoping to build its business around one of the hottest trends in heart attack and brain injury treatment: therapeutic hypothermia.

Life Core Technologies LLC’s “simple” medical device for inducing hypothermia earlier this month shipped to one of its first customers, Lucas County’s emergency medical service in northwest Ohio, Life Core CEO Scott Raybuck said.

The Cleveland-based company’s device resembles a neck-immobilization collar and works via a proprietary chemical that can reach temperatures as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit 30 seconds after activation, Raybuck said. The chemical allows the collar to cool blood that’s going to the brain, which induces mild hypothermia. The idea is that cooling the brain helps reduce the chances of injury to tissue once bloodflow is restored for patients who’ve suffered from heart attack, stroke or traumatic brain injury. At normal temperatures, a rush of blood to the brain following a traumatic event can damage tissue.

MedCity News logo

Particularly for heart attacks, therapeutic hypothermia has garnered lots of media attention in recent years, and it has some prominent backers, including David Palestrant, director of neuro-critical care and the stroke program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

“As a neurointensivist treating patients in the ICU, for years I had nothing to offer these patients,” Palestrant told USA Today. “Hypothermia is truly amazing. Patients who you know would have been severely impaired are now leaving the hospital and going on to normal lives.”

Perhaps more importantly to Life Core, therapeutic hypothermia has also captured the imagination of big device firms, as illustrated by three acquisitions over the last two years. Philips Healthcare (NYSE:PHG) purchased InnerCool Therapies for about $13 million in 2009; Zoll Medical Corp. (NSDQ:ZOLL) acquired Alsius for $12 million last year and Stryker Corp. (NYSE:SYK) bought Gaymar for $150 million last year.

Raybuck refers to Life Core’s device as “the missing link” in therapeutic hypothermia, because it’s designed for use in emergency situations until a patient reaches the ICU. Most other technologies on the market are for longer-term, bedside use, he said.

Life Core, which started up about two years ago and has three employees, is hoping to close a $3 million Series A investment round this year. The company would use the funding to add several employees, including sales managers. Life Core currently has about five customers and is in discussions with about five more, Raybuck said.

Aside from acquirers’ interest in therapeutic hypothermia, Life Core has another advantage: its regulatory pathway. Because the company’s device is “simple” and used externally, it didn’t need to go through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s sometimes-onerous 510(k) clearance process. “That saved us a couple years, and a couple million dollars,” Raybuck said.

The company’s device, the Sandhu Cerebral Cooling Collar, takes its name from its inventor, Dr. Aqeel Sandhu. Sandhu is a “silent partner” with LifeCore and medical director of cardiothoracic surgery at Canton’s Mercy Medical Center.

Filed Under: Business/Financial News, News Well Tagged With: Life Core Technologies LLC

More recent news

  • A new way to monitor glucose: Glucotrack explains 3-year CBGM implant technology
  • Dexcom continues advances in AI for CGM, type 2 diabetes awareness
  • Tandem continues to deliver more options, benefits for those with diabetes
  • Breaking: Sequel to launch twiist automated insulin delivery system next month
  • Dexcom shares U.S. report on CGM benefits for type 2 diabetes

Primary Sidebar

“md
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest med device regulatory, business and technology news.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MEDTECH 100 Stock INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
MDO ad

Footer

MASSDEVICE MEDICAL NETWORK

DeviceTalks
Drug Delivery Business News
Medical Design & Outsourcing
Medical Tubing + Extrusion
Drug Discovery & Development
Pharmaceutical Processing World
MedTech 100 Index
R&D World
Medical Design Sourcing

DeviceTalks Webinars, Podcasts, & Discussions

Attend our Monthly Webinars
Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

MASSDEVICE

Subscribe to MassDevice E-Newsletter
Advertise with us
About
Contact us

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy