The ground-breaking method will shut down their bodies entirely during major surgery, giving doctors more time to perform operations.
The technique will also help reduce brain damage while the patient's heart is not beating, besides cutting down the need for anaesthetic and life-support machines.
Researchers are about to begin the first human trials of the technique, which involves replacing a patient's blood with a cold solution to rapidly chill body temperatures, reports the Telegraph.
The cold treatment, which is being developed at the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US, and is featured in a BBC documentary, will see patient's body being cooled to as low as 10°C.
The normal human body temperature is 37°C and usually humans quickly die if the core body temperature drops below 22°C.
Hasan Alam, who is leading the research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, said that often emergency patients suffering from gunshot wounds, stabbings and car accidents are on the brink of death. Hence, by cooling their bodies so extensively it can protect their brain and organs from damage. Alam said trials of the technique in animals had shown it to be hugely successful.
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