Technical Field

This invention is related to a pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit which is intended to minimize the possible damages by cooling down the patient (hypothermia), thus cooling down the fetal circulation and the baby and creating a placental vasoconstriction while the device continues pumping blood in pregnant patients who are going under an open heart surgery with a cardiopulmonary bypass (heart lung machine) in the field of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery.

Thanks to the heater inside the bypass unit in this invention, the blood at a lowered temperature coming from the mother is heated up and this heated blood is transferred to the vein through which the mother feeds the baby with the fetus arterial cannula. Therefore, the placenta which feeds the baby continuously receives warm blood and the baby is kept from cooling down during the operation and being negatively affected by obstructing the placental vasoconstriction.

Prior Art

Today, the cardiopulmonary bypass is commonly used in the surgical treatment of heart diseases. With the cardiopulmonary bypass, the heart and lung functions are disabled temporarily and these functions are fulfilled by extracorporeal mechanical systems.

For example, as a result of the rupture of the aorta due to various reasons which is called the aorta dissection, the blood starts to flow in between the aorta layers or towards the body cavities. In aorta dissections, the blood which enters the ruptured or cracked vein progresses here and disrupts the blood flow. This is especially a common disorder in pregnant women as the vein structure weakens and softens. In these situations which require an operation, the function of the heart is temporarily transferred to the heart lung machine.

In available systems, the body temperature is lowered down in pregnant women who undergo an open heart surgery with a cardiopulmonary bypass. In this case, the blood pumped with the cardiopulmonary bypass device from the mother whose body temperature has been lowered down disrupts the fetal circulation and cools down the fetus and leads to negative impacts and losses.

The USA Patent Certificate no US2014294671 in prior art describes a precardial blood suction device and a reservoir in which the sucked blood is vacuumed to be used in the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).

The England Patent Certificate no GB1485300 in prior art describes a simple, accurate and precise cardiopulmonary bypass system to obtain a venous flow which is fed by a variable rate gravity from a human circulation system, revive the blood and return it to a circulation system at a rate which is mostly equal to the venous flow rate.

The foregoing practices do not describe an additional unit which protects the fetus by warming up the blood that comes from the mother at a lowered temperature to an equal temperature to the placental circulation and sending oxygenated blood thanks to the heater in the bypass unit during the cardiopulmonary bypass.

Detailed Description of the Invention The visual description of the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit in the present invention is demonstrated in the attached drawings.

These drawings are as follows;

Figure-1 A perspective view of the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit in the present invention.

Figure-2 A view of the placental hypothermia preventive perfusion unit in the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit in the present invention.

The part numbers in the drawings and respective descriptions are as follows;

1- Pregnant-Fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit

2- Venous cannula

3- Pregnant reservoir

4- Pregnant pump

5- Pregnant arterial cannula

6- Pregnant oxygenator

7- Placental hypothermia preventive perfusion unit

7.1 Heater

7.2 Fetus reservoir

7.3 Fetus pump

7.4 Fetus arterial cannula

7.5 Fetus oxygenator

The pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit (1) in the present invention comprises of; - A venous cannula (2) that is attached to the right heart of the patient and that allows for the extracorporeal circulation of the blood without getting into the heart,

- A pregnant reservoir (3) that is attached to the venous cannula (2) and that allows for the safe administration of various medication while the blood from the mother is being collected and the tissues and organs are being fed by the blood as necessary,

- A pregnant pump (4) that is attached to the pregnant reservoir (3) and that pumps the blood coming from the pregnant reservoir (3) to maintain the function of the heart during the operation,

- A pregnant oxygenator (6) that is attached to the pregnant pump (4) on one end and to the patient's aorta or another artery through the pregnant arterial cannula (5) on the other end, and that allows for clearing the patient's high carbon dioxide concentration blood from its carbon dioxide and returning it to the patient with increased oxygen concentration,

- A placental hypothermia preventive perfusion unit (7) that is attached to the pregnant reservoir (3) on one end and which includes a heater (7.1) that heats up the blood from the pregnant reservoir (3) with the hot water inside, a fetus reservoir (7.2) attached to the heater (7.1) where the warmed up blood is collected, a fetus pump (7.3) attached to the fetus reservoir (7.2), that pumps the heated blood coming from the fetus reservoir (7.2) during the operation, a fetus oxygenator (7.5) that is attached to the fetus pump (7.3) on one end and attached to the internal iliac artery or vein bilaterally through the fetus arterial cannula (7.4) on the other end and allows for clearing the high carbon dioxide concentration blood from its carbon dioxide and returning it to the placenta at an increased oxygen concentration, and thus, prevents the fetus from cooling down by supplying a warmed up blood flow to the placenta.

Thanks to the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit (1) in the present invention, the fetus inside the mother is kept from cooling down during the operation and being negatively affected by obstructing the placental vasoconstriction.

Another use of the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit (1) in the present invention is as follows;

The blood can also be transferred to the heater (7.1) from the pregnant arterial cannula (5) where the cooled down and oxygenated blood is returned to the patient. From here, it goes to the fetus reservoir (7.2) and it can be pumped to the internal iliac artery or vein bilaterally. As the blood will come oxygenated from the mother in this case, it is possible to pump the warmed-up blood to the placenta without the need for a fetus oxygenator (7.5).

In the pregnant-fetus cardiopulmonary bypass unit (1) in the present invention, the blood in the pregnant reservoir (3) is transferred to the heater (7.1). The heater (7.1) can be in a helix structure in a tank filled with hot water. The blood which is warmed up by going through the heater (7.1) is collected here in the fetus reservoir (7.2). Then, it is pumped to the fetus oxygenator (7.5) with the fetus pump (7.3). Finally, the warmed up and oxygenated blood is transferred to the placenta bilaterally through the fetus arterial cannula (7.4).

In dissection cases, the condition that the dissection creates an occlusion in the iliac artery and causes a failure in feeding the placenta by blooding the placenta in the retrograde form the iliac vein is another problem that will be solved with the present invention.