BOCKs HA compressor is being used in a pain relief treatment which is increasingly being administered in hospitals.
Whole body cryotherapy (WBC) requires a patient to enter a cold chamber approximately the size of a sauna, in which there is a temperature of -110°C and where the moisture has been largely removed from the air. As well as pain relief, it is also used in the treatment of various skin disorders such as neurodermatitis and psoriasis.

During an application lasting just a few minutes, the extremely low temperature causes a pleasant tingling sensation on the bare skin. It is claimed to eliminate pain immediately, the duration of such pain relief depending on the individual.

The patient first enters an antechamber where the temperature is -60°C. This is followed by entry into a cold chamber, where the temperature is -110°C. By contrast with cold chambers using liquid nitrogen, this chamber is equipped with a refrigeration unit where cold air between -60°C and -110°C is passed as a laminar flow over a wall surface into the chamber and expelled again via the opposite wall.

The patient is subjected to extreme cold for up to three minutes. During that time skin temperature drops to 2°C but body temperature only drops by between 0.1°C and 0.2°C. To achieve a sustained effect it is recommended that the following pain-free phase is used directly for physiotherapy exercises.

Cold chambers in use are cooled down in three cascades from ambient temperature to -110°C with three semi-hermetic HA4 compressors made by Bock. The HA is a semi-hermetic compressor with an air-cooled drive motor. As with open-type compressors, the refrigerant is drawn in at the compressor direct. The motor is located outside the flow of suction gas and is cooled by a fan. By means of a special air deflection hood the cooling current of air is also passed via the compressor and thus reduces service temperature.

The suction gas is not heated up by the motor so the HA has a high specific refrigeration output. It uses R404A in a single stage, without any additional cooling, down to an evaporation temperature of -45°C. The HA compressor combines the advantages of open-type compressors with those of semi-hermetic compressors.



Bock Kaltemaschinen GmbH

0049 7022 94540