Heart-lung machine
A console with pumps (centrifugal or roller) and an extracorporeal circuit that temporarily replaces the pumping function of the heart and the gas-exchange function of the lungs during open-heart surgery.
How it is used
It maintains blood circulation and oxygenation while the heart is stopped and open, making procedures such as coronary revascularization or valve surgery possible.
Clinical tip
It is always operated by a cardiac perfusionist, who adjusts flow, pressure and temperature in constant coordination with the surgeon and anesthesiologist.
Sources
This entry is part of the Instriq catalog, researched and written per specialty from real web research -- never generated or invented without verification -- and reviewed skeptically and independently before publication. How this catalog is written.
Image: Jörg Schulze (Schulli), via Wikimedia Commons. License CC BY-SA 3.0. View original source.
History
Added to the catalog on 2026-10-02.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.