A new top-loading venous bag provides vacuum-assisted venous drainage.

A new venous bag has been developed, prototyped, and tested. The new bag has its inlet, outlet purge, and infusion tubes extending upward from the top of the bag, and are threaded through, bonded to, and sealed within a flat rigid top plate. This design allows the bag to be hung from its top plate by its tubes.

An improved bladder for pump control during ECMO procedures.

A new inline reservoir called the Better-Bladder, now FDA-cleared for long term use, overcomes some disadvantages of the silicone bladder and bladder box used in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuits. The Better-Bladder provides compliance in the venous line and allows for noninvasive pressure measurements. Both features are useful for controlling pump speed as a function of venous line pressure.

A new bladder allows kinetic venous augmentation with a roller pump.

Augmented venous drainage improves venous return during minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Two systems to augment drainage are common: in one, a centrifugal pump draws blood from the venous site and pumps it into a venous reservoir. In the other, suction is applied directly to a hard-shell venous reservoir.

Clinical evaluation of setting pump occlusion by the dynamic method: effect on flow.

Pump manufacturers recommend setting roller pump occlusion such that the level of a 100 cm column of crystalloid drops 2.5 cm/min (Sarns, 8000 Modular Perfusion System, operator's manual, roller pump software version 2.3L.

Errors in flow and pressure related to the arterial filter purge line.

The purge line is a necessary component on arterial filters, although its presence may affect the amount of flow reaching the patient as well as the pump outlet pressure in the extracorporeal circuit. In-vitro and clinical studies conducted to investigate these effects with a commonly used purge line showed that at flows less than 1.5 L/min, rates for pediatric or infant patients, the purge line diverts as much as 40% of the intended pump flow away from the patient.