Integral blood oxygenator and heat exchanger

Claim 1

An extra-corporeal blood oxygenator and blood temperature controller suitable for exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide in patient circulating blood, wherein the improvement combination comprises: a multiplicity of small diameter, oxygenator tubes, disposed in an equal length patterned parallel tubular array, said tubular array ranging from 4 to 24 inches long and said tubes ranging from one-sixteenth to five-sixteenths inches in a single tube diameter, said tubular array having a base terminus and a top terminus; a base header plate securing said patterned array of oxygenator tubes at said array base terminus, providing a fluid impervious plate terminus for said array of tubes; a top header plate securing said patterned array of oxygenator tubes at said array top terminus, providing a fluid impervious plate terminus for said array of tubes; a tubular boundary case securing said base header plate, said top header plate and said multiple oxygenator tubes in an exchanger configuration; a pair of heat transfer fluid conduits conductively secured to said boundary case adjacent to said base header plate, one said conduit draining said boundary case adjacent to said header plate, and the second said conduit extending inside and terminating inside said boundary case adjacent to said top header plate, draining said boundary case; an inlet blood tubular manifold having a first blood manifold terminus coaxially secured to said boundary case adjacent to said base header plate, said first blood manifold terminus having an internal diameter at least equal to the internal diameter of said boundary case, said blood manifold having a base plate securing the second blood manifold terminus, providing a multiplicity of gas injection apertures normally disposed through said base plate; an inlet oxygen gas manifold having a first gas manifold terminus concentrically secured to said blood manifold adjacent to said blood manifold base plate, said first gas manifold terminus having an internal diameter equal to the diameter of said base plate, a closure sealing the second gas manifold terminus opposite said blood manifold base plate; at least one blood inlet conduit conductively secured to said blood manifold; and, at least one oxygen gas inlet conduit conductively secured to said oxygen gas manifold; whereby a two-phase blood-oxygen-carbon dioxide gas mixture circulates inside said multiple oxygenator tubes, and a precisely temperature controlled heat transfer fluid circulates exteriorly to the oxygenator tubes inside the tube exchanger configuration.