Heart-lung machine with semi-autonomous initiation mode

A heart-lung machine system comprising:

• an arterial pump comprising a centrifugal pump;
• a reservoir level detector system comprising a level sensor configured to detect a level of fluid in a reservoir;
• and
• a central computer system configured to:
• query the centrifugal pump to determine whether the centrifugal pump is active or inactive;
• in response to determining that the centrifugal pump is inactive, automatically activate the centrifugal pump by adjusting the centrifugal pump to a pre-configured rotational speed setting;
• query the reservoir level detector system to determine whether the reservoir level detector system is active or inactive;
• in response to determining that the reservoir level detector system is inactive, automatically activate the reservoir level detector system;
• and
• in response to a fluid level detected by the reservoir level detector system, automatically adjust a rotational speed of the centrifugal pump from the pre-configured rotational speed setting.