An automatically controlled extracorporeal circulation system with membrane lung

Abstract

As previously reported, circuit B can yield less blood trauma with sufficient gas exchange than circuit A or C does. With this circuit, however, pressure in the membrane lung elevates higher than the arterial pressure and there may be potential hazard of blood leakage from the membrane lung.
The new circuit described in this paper can eliminate this trouble. It has two pumps. One locates proximal to and another locates distal to the membrane lung.
These two pumps were controlled by servomechanism so that internal pressure of the membrane lung is kept constant and minimizes the difference of pulse pressure before and after the membrane lung.
With use of this new circuit, experimental perfusion was carried out with satisfactory results.
In this new circuit, we can use any kind of membrane lung more easily and more conviniently by setting adequate condition; initial pressure and pressure difference between before and after membrane lung.