Innovative design to prevent reversal of roller blood pump rotation in the event of electromechanical failure: an easy solution to a devastating problem.

Despite the advanced technologies of battery back-up for heart-lung consoles and the availability of system-wide generators, electromechanical failure is still occurring. Several heart-lung machine manufacturers still provide unsafe handcranking devices to use in the case of an emergency while using a roller blood pump. A new design has been engineered to eliminate safety and quality issues for the perfusionist and the patient when the need for handcranking presents itself.

Distributed perfusion educational model: a shift in perfusion economic realities.

In recent years, a steady decline in the number of perfusion education programs in the United States has been noted. At the same time, there has been a parallel decline in the number of students graduated from perfusion educational programs in the United States. Also, as noted by several authors, there has been an increase in demand for perfusion graduates.

A failure mode effect analysis on extracorporeal circuits for cardiopulmonary bypass.

Although many refinements in perfusion methodology and devices have been made, extracorporeal circulation remains a contributor to neurological complications, bleeding coagulopathies, use of blood products, as well as systemic inflammatory response. With the exposure of these adverse effects of cardiopulmonary bypass, the necessity to re-examine the safety of extracorporeal circuits is vital. A failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) is a proven proactive technique developed to evaluate system effect or equipment failure.

Internet-based virtual classroom and educational management software enhance students' didactic and clinical experiences in perfusion education programs.

A challenge faced by many university-based perfusion education (PE) programs is the need for student clinical rotations at hospital locations that are geographically disparate from the main educational campus. The problem has been addressed through the employment of distance-learning environments. The purpose of this educational study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching model as it is applied to PE.