1 heart-lung machine | Definition of heart-lung machine

heart-lung machine

noun

Definition of heart-lung machine

: a mechanical pump that maintains circulation during heart surgery by shunting blood away from the heart, oxygenating it, and returning it to the body

Examples of heart-lung machine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The machines have been used for decades as heart-lung machines during open-heart surgery and on newborns in intensive care. Christine Clarridge, The Seattle Times, "‘We thought we’d pulled a dead person out of the water’: Woman recovers after Puget Sound rescue," 7 Feb. 2018 To do that, surgeons remove a vein from the leg, open the chest cavity, prep the heart, stop it with the help of a heart-lung machine to keep blood circulating, sew in the graft and kick the heart into action once more. Erin Blakemore, Washington Post, "Once scary, heart bypass surgery has become common and safer," 6 Mar. 2018 From health care came endless vaccines, the pill and heart valve replacements —enabled by the heart-lung machine. Ken Fisher, USA TODAY, "How your 401(k) stocks harness the power of invention," 11 Mar. 2018 It was disconnected from the pump, and was carried to Washkansky’s room, where it was connected to a small-capacity heart-lung machine. Lily Rothman, Time, "50 Years Ago This Week: Inside the First Heart Transplant," 11 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heart-lung machine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of heart-lung machine

1953, in the meaning defined above

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More Definitions for heart-lung machine

heart-lung machine

noun
heart-lung ma·​chine | \ ËŒhärt-ˈləŋ-mÉ™-ËŒshÄ“n How to pronounce heart-lung machine (audio) \

Medical Definition of heart-lung machine

: a mechanical pump that maintains circulation during heart surgery by shunting blood away from the heart, oxygenating it, and returning it to the body

More from Merriam-Webster on heart-lung machine

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with heart-lung machine