An oxygenator is a medical device that is capable of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood of human patients during surgical procedures that may necessitate the interruption or cessation of blood flow in the body, a critical organ or great blood vessel. These organs can be the heart, lungs or liver, while the great vessels can be the aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins or vena cava.[1]
- ^ Kirklin, John W.; Donald, David E.; Harshbarger, Harry G.; Hetzel, Peter S.; Patrick, Robert T.; Swan, H. J. C.; Wood, Earl H. (1956). "Studies in Extracorporeal Circulation. I. Applicability of Gibbon-Type Pump-Oxygenator to Human Intracardiac Surgery: 40 Cases". Annals of Surgery. 144 (1): 2–8. doi:10.1097/00000658-195607000-00002. PMC 1465298. PMID 13327835.