Cardiotomy reservoir

The cardiotomy reservoir is a critical part of the heart-lung machine that maintains lung gas exchange and blood circulation during open heart surgery.

The majority of all heart operations are performed on an open heart. These interventions place high demands on personnel, medical materials and equipment. Because the heart has to stand still while the heart surgeons operate on it. But of course the gas exchange in the lungs and the large blood circulation must continue to run reliably during this time.

The machines that take on this task are known as heart-lung machines or HLM. A crucial part of the HLM is the cardiotomy reservoir, which is located upstream of the artificial lung - the oxygen generator. When resting, the human heart typically beats around 60 times per minute and transports 60 ml to 90 ml of blood per heartbeat. That's about 300 liters of blood per hour that the HLM has to transport while it takes over the tasks of the heart and lungs.

It is important to prevent hemolysis - a mechanical overload that can damage the gas-transporting red blood cells, causing them to lose their function. The cardiotomy reservoir must therefore function both robustly and precisely over many hours and procedures. This also brings with it major challenges in the manufacturing and testing process, because in addition to a high-quality product, the effort and costs must remain within the limits of the available resources.

This is exactly what we have achieved with this innovative and customer-oriented all-inclusive solution: