How is a Cardiopulmonary Bypass Performed?

• The surgeon places a cannula (a specialized piece of tubing) into the patients right atrium.
• The patient's blood is then drawn through a tube into a reservoir. A pump (artificial Heart) is used to pump the blood from the reservoir into an oxygenator (artificial lung) where oxygen is added and carbon dioxide is removed.
• From there the blood passes up another tube and is returned to the arteries through a cannula the surgeon places in the aorta.

Learn more about:

• Surgery
• Equipment