Heart Lung Machine

A heart lung machine is an apparatus that does the work both of the heart (i.e., pumps blood) and the lungs (i.e., oxygenates the blood) during, for example, open-heart surgery. The basic function of the machine is to oxygenate the body's venous supply of blood and then to pump it back into the arterial system. Blood returning to the heart is diverted through the machine before returning it to the arterial circulation. It also provides intracardiac suction, filtration, and temperature control. The heart lung machine is a system which takes over the function of the heart and the lungs with sufficient safety to maintain life.