Extracorporeal circulation apparatus and method
AssigneeCormedics Corp.
InventorsStephen R. Igo, James W. Meador
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Patient blood in an extracorporeal flow circuit (such as a cardiopulmonary bypass machine) is contacted with one or more nitric oxide feeds at least one of which is upstream of the circuit pump, to provide a concentration of nitric oxide in the blood effective to inhibit activation of blood platelets and reduce whole body inflammation of the patient as a result of a procedure using the extracorporeal circulation.
Claims8
A method of reducing inflammatory response resulting from contact of blood with surfaces in an extracorporeal fluid, comprising:
- (a) providing an extracorporeal blood circuit comprising an inlet line adapted to receive blood from a patient, an outlet line adapted to return blood to the patient, a fluid circuit for fluid communication between the inlet and the outlet line, and at least one pump acting on the fluid circuit to circulate blood therethrough and out the outlet line,
- (b) circulating a patient's blood through said extracorporeal blood circuit, and
- (c) contacting blood in a portion of said circuit upstream of said pump with nitric oxide gas in concentration sufficient to reduce activation of blood platelets.
A method of reducing inflammatory response resulting from contact of blood with surfaces in an extracorporeal fluid circuit of a cardiopulmonary bypass apparatus, comprising:
- providing a cardiopulmonary bypass circuit that includes an inlet line adapted to receive blood from a patient and an outlet line adapted to return blood to the patient, a reservoir connected to the inlet line for accumulation of blood received from the patient, an oxygenator, a fluid interconnection circuit for fluid communication between the reservoir and the oxygenator and between the oxygenator and the outlet line, and at least one pump acting on the fluid interconnection circuit to withdraw blood from the reservoir and circulate it through the oxygenator and out the outlet line, and
- contacting blood in a portion of said cardiopulmonary bypass circuit at least upstream of said oxygenator with nitric oxide gas in concentration sufficient to reduce activation of platelets in the blood.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.