Recent advances in cardiopulmonary bypass techniques

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) allows cardiac surgery to be performed in a motionless, bloodless surgical field. It incorporates an extracorporeal circuit to provide physiological support. Typically, blood is gravity drained from the heart and lungs to a reservoir via venous cannulation and tubing, and returned oxygenated to the arterial system by utilizing a pump and artificial lung (oxygenator or gas exchanger). In the last 20 yr, improvements in CPB have occurred rapidly due to advances in biomaterials, manufacturing, computer microsystem technology, and electronics.