Heart-lung machine

Heart-lung machine: A machine that does the work both of the heart (pump blood) and the lungs (oxygenate the blood). Used, for example, in open heart surgery. Blood returning to the heart is diverted through the machine before returning it to the arterial circulation. John H. Gibson invented the heart-lung machine which was first successfully used in open-heart surgery in 1953. Also called a pump-oxygenator.