Should Air Bubble Detectors Be Used to Quantify Microbubble Activity during Cardiopulmonary Bypass?

Air bubble detectors (ABDs) are utilized during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to protect against massive air embolism. Stockert (Munich, Germany) ABD quantify microbubbles >300 μm; however, their reliability has not been reported. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of the microbubble data from the ABD with the SIII and S5 heart-lung machines.