Heart-lung machine, Europe, 1950-1979
- maker:
- American Optical Company
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LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
License
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Heart-lung machine consisting of 4 pumps on a mobile base, a telethermometer, oxygen and carbon dioxide flow systems and an elapsed time indicator
Operated by a specially trained technician, a heart-lung machine replaces the function of the heart and lungs during open heart surgery. A mechanical pump takes over from the heart, with blood taken from the body and pumped over a membrane to gain oxygen and rid it of carbon dioxide. Flow meters record the levels of the gases.
Heart-lung machines were first developed in the 1950s. Today, some surgeries are carried out while the heart is still beating. Here, the heart-lung machine is shown in a scene depicting an operating theatre from the 1980s.
Details
- Category:
- Surgery
- Object Number:
- 1979-685
- Materials:
- plastic (unidentified), metal (unknown), steel (metal), bakelite and rubber (unidentified)
- Measurements:
-
overall: 1113 mm x 1700 mm x 1190 mm,
- type:
- heart-lung machine
- credit:
- British American Optical Co. (Berks)
