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Analysis Of Ex Vivo Lung

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The two huge questions that haunt many heart and lung transplant patients and surgeons alike are; can a fake, mechanical heart or lung be placed into a patient and not only work for years, but also detect abnormalities while doing so? And how long can a viable for the patient heart or lung live out of the donors body with the separation from the lungs that provide a constant oxygen supply as well as a disconnection from the vein-born blood that the heart most famously pumps? As may be expected, the answer to the second question stated earlier is a very short amount of time, just over 4 hours is the maximum time most transplant specialists will continue with the procedure to ensure no fatal side affects follow from a dying heart being transplanted …show more content…

The lungs are attached at the Left atrial cannula were a slight flow of air is introduced to de-air through the pulmonary artery cannula. Once de-aired, the pulmonary artery cannula was then connected as well and a flow of around 130 mL/min of perfusate, which is essentially a solution with an enhanced colloid osmotic pressure that was created for EVLP. The ventilation of the perfusate is gradually increased. An estimation of the donor’s cardiac output is then made and around 50% of estimated cardiac output is maintained for the flow rate to perfuse both lungs. The ventilation using a tidal volume of around 6mL/kg (donors body weight) is maintained at 7 breaths per minute. The oxygenated perfusate is then deoxygenated by the use of CO2 gas and a heat exchanger and the resulting perfusate is then pumped back into the lungs to the pulmonary artery. The electrolytes, glucose, pCO2 and pH levels were maintained at physiologic levels in the perfusate to best reconstruct real ventilation. Just like the ex vivo heart perfusion machine (EVHP), the EVLP monitors just about every important aspect that the transplant patient will require to be able to maintain a healthy lung once transplantation is finished. These monitored values include the Left Atrial cannula pressure, the mechanical tidal volume ventilations based on donors ideal body weight, the …show more content…

In the EVLP, so many mechanical and electrical properties are working together to create a work of art. Therefore the most important technical design characteristics are both the electrical and mechanical properties. The mechanical properties that are important are limitless. First off the outside of the machine has to be large enough to fit all of the equipment necessary to maintain a beating heart/breathing lung as well as strong enough to ensure the organ’s safety. The machine also needs to have the best of the best equipment to function as accurately as any machine could to, once again, to ensure the safety and maintenance of the organ. All of the pumps that allow the fluid to be pushed through the organ must never break down and maintain a semi-constant value of pressure. All of these aspects must be met to allow for the overwhelming amount of advantages that comes from ex vivo heart/lung perfusion with out

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