An investigation into the risk of air embolus during veno-venous bypass inorthotopic liver transplantation

After observing micro-bubble activity in the venovenous bypass system durin g liver transplantation, an experiment was designed to investigate the orig in of these bubbles and to define the conditions under which they occurred. Using a Biomedicus constrained vortex pump and a customized circuit design , microbubble activity was measured in saline and blood media during varyin g pre- and post-head pressures. The data show that air emboli can be genera ted from this pump and the rate at which they develop is directly related t o the pre- and post-head pressure and hematocrit.