DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF A MINIATURE JOULE-THOMSON COOLER IN CRYOSURGICAL

Miniature Joule-Thomson cooler is widely applied for cooling infrared detector， it is a mature technology. The American company of ENDOCARE has invented the first generation of cryocare（Ar-He knife）systems in the 1990s. The cryocare（Ar-He knife）systems utilizes the Joule-Thomson effect. Its temperature will be rapidly cooled down by the high pressure argon expand from high pressure to low pressure at room temperature， and its temperature will be rapidly warmed up by the high pressure He expand from high pressure to low pressure at room temperature. Cancerous cells will be killed by the temperature exchange of cryocare（Ar-He knife）systems. The technology has been widely applied on cryosurgical and has achieved good therapeutic effect in the treatment of various cancers. Domestic miniature Joule Thomson cooler technology has been carried out for many years and has accumulated a wealth of technical basis， but cryosurgical is still in its initial stage. This paper presents low temperature medical has a broad development prospects in the future and gives an advocation to domestic companies to do more research on miniature Joule-Thomson cooler to promote the application of the cryosurgical technology in medical field.