3 ms·
I believe the culprit is "Pump Head". Not the inflammation thing they mention, not the anesthesia. Heart lung bypass machines, ECMO systems, they all use non-p
by iancmceachern 5y ago
I believe the culprit is "Pump Head". Not the inflammation thing they mention, not the anesthesia.
Heart lung bypass machines, ECMO systems, they all use non-pulsatile continuous flow pumps. These pumps do not have the same pressure curve and higher pressure pulses that the native circulation does. This causes blood to not make it all the way down to the capillaries, and therefore starves brain tissue that is fed by the smallest of the capillaries.
To solve this problem, a company I helped called Ventriflo has been working to build a pulsatile pump that can be used for both ECMO and cardiopulmonary bypass uses.
https://ventriflo.com/ https://ventriflo.com/
- pixl97 5y agoEh, this doesn't sound good for all the people that were on ECMO because of covid.
- PawBer 5y agoThey only put people under ECMO when there's no other way they will survive so I think it's a pretty good deal.
- copperx 5y agoSure, but you have to put things in context. ECMO is used as a last recourse for life preservation when death is highly likely. I wouldn't be too worried about cognitive impairment if the alternative was to die.
- Enginerrrd 5y agoNo. That's such a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage of surgeries and the risks being discussed are present without any heart-lung bypass being involved, ever. That's not to say it's not an issue for people undergoing such a procedure, but it's just not what's being discussed here.
- iancmceachern 5y agoThank you!