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The CryoPen system provides a means of freezing tissue without the use of cryogenic liquids or gases, such as liquid nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or nitrous oxide. The system consists of hand-held freeze modules, a refrigeration unit, and single use tips. When used properly, the system will deliver effective temperatures for tissue ablation. The CryoPen system is designed to ablate tissue by the application of extreme cold temperature. Indications for use include: multiple organ systems, wide-range of disease, viral, pre-malignant and malignant tissue.
The CryoPen offers physicians and patients a safer, more convenient alternative to liquid nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide.
Ideal for
Primary Care, Internal Medicine, Dermatology, Plastic Surgery, OB/GYN, and Podiatry
I'd be really interested to know how this works. Unfortunately the company website is as helpful as an umbrella in a hurricaine. The most important thing about cryonecrosis is the freezing velocity of the tissue when the probe is applied. Too slow and you get extracellular ice formation, which has the effect of insulating cells and preserving them rather than the desired opposite. That's why there's a whole lot of hopefuls lying in some underground vault somewhere in Nebraska having undergone a slow deep freeze in LN2 in the hope that when they wake up, George Bush Jnr III will have left planet earth in some sort of viable state for them to enjoy. I suppose the point of living and of being an optimist is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come. Personally I think their optimism is slightly misplaced; and think of their chilblains!
I did a lot of work in cryogenics in the early 1990's and every so often these wondrous new products appear, stay a while, the vanish into obscurity. As far as I'm concerned the only cryogen of choice is LN2 (or liquid O2 or helium if you really want to make an impact!). Nothing else comes close.
Mark Russell
Last edited by Mark Russell : 27th November 2004 at 08:18 PM.
So how was it? I've been using one for the last 4 months with mixed results including some success. I've been trying 2x15 seconds per VP to start with but, not wanting to sound like a sadist am a bit worried that it's not a severe enough freeze (the patients don't scream like they used to with LN ) Should i freeze for longer? What times do other people use?? I'm also concerned about the peripheral areas taking too much freeze, has anyone succeeded in concentrating the freeze for small vp's? (I tried masking the area with fleecy web but that made it worse, the VP got a better freeze but so did the entire area under the FW, pt's reaction much more customary!)
I usually freeze 2x 30 seconds with most vp's. With small ones 2x 15 seconds.
With big ones, if the patient is not a sensitive soul I use 2x 30 seconds with the big nozzle.
With some persistent heel vp's i've used 2x30 seconds normal nozzle then 70% salicylic acid ointment straight after, and get the patient back after a week.
Overall I've had good results. However when you get monster vp's i.e. a 2p size it doesn't work...
Here's a tip: If you use the cyopen a lot you need to buy some spare 'o' rings and closing pastilles. It took me 3 gas cartriges to work out why the cryopen didn't work anymore...
As far as freezing goes I try to develop a nice ice ball on the vp and keep the probe moving round. However I have tried putting the nozzle really close but the patient's moan a bit...
Sometimes it can take 10 treatments or more on persistent vp's. However some are gone in 2 goes, very occasionally one treatment.
I use the cryopen on approx 4 patients a week. It is very popular.
Which nozzle is the wider one? They are both so small it's hard to tell but I'm assuming the black one is the standard size.
I'm finding it pretty good all round. Certainly I've not had the terror in the eyes of patients that i grew accustomed to seeing when using the nitrous gun (large welding size tank on wheels and a foot long gun didn't put patients at ease especially.....)
Sometimes the filter clogs straight away and that canisters gas comes out more slowly, i just freeze for longer if it does that. I've been trying to hold the nozzle next to the skin by moving it in small circles, pushing the ice away, the thinking for that is the blurb about this says it's the pressure that pushes the cold into the skin that makes this method effective. That said the ice blobs are damn cold anyway, i soon learned not to use this with any bare arm showing! It does tend to spit about a bit.
CryoPen
) Should i freeze for longer? What times do other people use?? I'm also concerned about the peripheral areas taking too much freeze, has anyone succeeded in concentrating the freeze for small vp's? (I tried masking the area with fleecy web but that made it worse, the VP got a better freeze but so did the entire area under the FW, pt's reaction much more customary!) 
Linear Mode
