heart-lung machine

John Malins said:

When I left school, about 50 years ago I worked as an
apprenticed technician at Du-cane road Post Graduate
Medical School , part of the Hammersmith hospital
London.whilst I was there they developed the heart-lung
machine,this was about 1952.I remember a Dr Melrose did a
lot of work on
it.we made the first one in the workshop and as far as I
can remember it consisted of a cylinder about 3ft long
x18" dia with spiral Perspex rings forming a large
internal arrear where the blood was oxygenated .the
pumps were made from old offset ballraces which
squashed a rubber tube moving the blood round .it was
quite a contraption, but it did the job.When I see
medical programs on telly using a modern heart bypass
machine as routine I often wonder where it got to .Is
it in a medical museum somewhere? its satisfing to
think i played a small part in its making,even if it
was only to make tea for the senior technicians..john.m

Wow

History is really made by folks just like you and me !!

liaM

John Malins said:

When I left school, about 50 years ago I worked as an
apprenticed technician at Du-cane road Post Graduate
Medical School , part of the Hammersmith hospital
London.whilst I was there they developed the heart-lung
machine,this was about 1952.I remember a Dr Melrose did a
lot of work on
it.we made the first one in the workshop and as far as I
can remember it consisted of a cylinder about 3ft long
x18" dia with spiral Perspex rings forming a large
internal arrear where the blood was oxygenated .the
pumps were made from old offset ballraces which
squashed a rubber tube moving the blood round .it was
quite a contraption, but it did the job.When I see
medical programs on telly using a modern heart bypass
machine as routine I often wonder where it got to .Is
it in a medical museum somewhere? its satisfing to
think i played a small part in its making,even if it
was only to make tea for the senior technicians..john.m

Dr. James Le Fanu in his book, "The rise and fall of modern
medicine" had an excellent description of how the
machine was eventually brought into service and the
revolution in surgery it inspired. I thought it was
quite remarkable, and it almost did not happen.

Regards,
D.s.

On Tue, 4 May 2004 22:31:03 +0100, "John Malins"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.the pumps

Quoted message said:

were made from old offset ballraces which squashed a rubber
tube moving the blood round .it was quite a contraption,
but it did the job.When I see medical programs on telly
using a modern heart bypass machine as routine I often
wonder where it got to .Is it in a medical museum
somewhere? its satisfing to think i played a small part in
its making,even if it was only to make tea for the senior
technicians..john.m

Some surgeons are doing "off-pump" surgery now. That must be
great for the patients who are suitable for it. A couple of
weeks ago on BBC TV there was a wonderful programme
featuring a very new procedure. A man with a very poor
prognosis was given a mechanical "new" heart. I can't
explain it all as it was very technical but he will always
have to carry quite a large battery pack and there was an
incision made in his skull for another part of the
procedure. It was at the Royal Brompton and involved a large
team of consultants. Wonderful to see the patient walking on
the beach with his wife afterwards. I think the machine you
remember will be in a museum in London somewhere. Diana

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 4 May 2004 22:31:03 +0100, "John Malins"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.the pumps

Quoted message said:

were made from old offset ballraces which squashed a
rubber tube moving

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

blood round .it was quite a contraption, but it did
the job.

Quoted message said:

>> >> >>

Some surgeons are doing "off-pump" surgery now. That must
be great for the patients who are suitable for it. A
couple of weeks ago on BBC TV there was a wonderful
programme featuring a very new procedure. A man with a
very poor prognosis was given a mechanical "new" heart. I
can't explain it all as it was very technical but he will
always have to carry quite a large battery pack and there
was an incision made in his skull for another part of the
procedure. It was at the Royal Brompton and involved a
large team of consultants. Wonderful to see the patient
walking on the beach with his wife afterwards. I think the
machine you remember will be in a museum in London
somewhere. Diana

Quoted message said:

Thanks diana,it looked like a large hamster
wheel!..thinking about other

things they made whilst I was there,the first cardiac
catheter, mad e from a material we all use in our house
every day. and the way they took a rapid series of xrays
using the old type plates ,when injecting the dye into the
coronary artery.And the kidney dialysis machine,using a
celophane membrane and osmotic process...and what was going
on in that strange cyclotron?never did get in there ..john.m

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 4 May 2004 22:31:03 +0100, "John Malins"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.the pumps

Quoted message said:

were made from old offset ballraces which squashed a
rubber tube moving

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

blood round .it was quite a contraption, but it did the
job.When I see medical programs on telly using a modern
heart bypass machine as

routine I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

often wonder where it got to .Is it in a medical museum
somewhere? its satisfing to think i played a small part
in its making,even if it was

only

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to make tea for the senior technicians..john.m

Some surgeons are doing "off-pump" surgery now. That must
be great for the patients who are suitable for it. A
couple of weeks ago on BBC TV there was a wonderful
programme featuring a very new procedure. A man with a
very poor prognosis was given a mechanical "new" heart. I
can't explain it all as it was very technical but he will
always have to carry quite a large battery pack and there
was an incision made in his skull for another part of the
procedure. It was at the Royal Brompton and involved a
large team of consultants. Wonderful to see the patient
walking on the beach with his wife afterwards. I think the
machine you remember will be in a museum in London
somewhere. Diana

Quoted message said:

The main drawback was that the batteries have to be changed
every six hours. Derek.

"John Malins" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:Isxmc.82$a7.47@newsfe6-win...

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 4 May 2004 22:31:03 +0100, "John Malins"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

.the pumps

Quoted message said:

were made from old offset ballraces which squashed a
rubber tube moving

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

blood round .it was quite a contraption, but it did
the job.

This type of pump is still used today and refered to as
"Squeege Pumps", commonly used to pump concrete, simple but
effective. Smoke

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> >> >> >>snip