Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a technique utilized to bypass the heart and the lungs during open-heart surgery. This technique is achieved by the cardiopulmonary bypass machine also known as the heart and lung machine (HLM). The first successful heart-lung machine was developed by John Gibbon in1953. The main objective of the CPB machine is to provide a bloodless, motionless heart for an optimum condition for cardiovascular surgery. To achieve this goal, the CPB machine substitutes the function of the heart and the lungs by using an artificial pump (heart) and oxygenator (lung) for gas diffusion.