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 Heart-Lung
Machine
A cardiac pump or cardiac bypass pump or heart-lung machine is an
instrument that temporarily diverts blood, particularly during heart
surgery, to oxygenate it, then pumps it throughout the body. This
maintains blood circulation until the heart and lungs are able to
function normally. Heart-lung machines consist of two main parts, the
pump, and the oxygenator. The pump may be a roller pump or a centrifuge
pump.
Roller pumps consist of several motor-driven rollers, which massage
silicone rubber tubing, pushing blood through the heart-lung machine.
The centrifugal pump force blood through by using centrifugal force. The
oxygenator varies, but usually is a passage through a silicone-membrane
simulated lung known as a true membrane oxygenator.
Cardiac pumps are primarily used in open-heart surgery. Cardiac pumps
function as the heart while the patient's heart is disconnected or
stopped for more than twenty minutes. The heart-lung machine is operated
and maintained by a perfusionist who is a certified medical technician.
Cardiac pumps are also used on infants born with certain birth defects
in order to keep them alive, and to ventilate bodies with transplantable
organs.
Unfortunately, continual use of cardiac pumps is believed to cause
circulatory damage to the brain because of the pumps generates
continuous pressure. In order to ventilate tissue in the foot region,
the high amount of pressure can cause damage to brain tissue. If the
pressure is set low enough to avoid possible damage to the brain, then
damage to the lower extremities such as the feet may be threatened.
In France, Service d'Aide Medicale Urgente (SAMU), Frances emergency
medical teams,
use a portable cardiac pump that encourages blood circulation by
suction. This pump is primarily used for treating heart attack victims
and not in open-heart surgery.
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