Method and apparatus for separating blood from other fluids during operative procedures

Claim 1

The combination with a heart-lung machine used in open heart surgery of: blood removal conduit means insertable into a patient at a point adjacent the blood inlet to the heart; means to prime the heartlung machine with fluids other than blood prior to an operation; means to cause blood from a patient to flow from the patient via the blood removal conduit means into the heart lung machine to mix with the priming fluid; means to carry the blood mixed with priming fluid to the oxygenator of the heart lung machine; dual conduit means to remove the blood mixed with priming fluid from the oxygenator and deliver a first portion of the mixture to the patient via a fluid carrying conduit insertable into the patient's body and to deliver a second portion of the mixture to an artificial kidney means; means to cause the said mixture to be treated in an artificial kidney so as to separate a portion of the priming fluid from the blood; conduit means to remove the blood from which a portion of the priming fluid has been removed from the artificial kidney means and return it into the inlet of the oxygenator; and drain means to remove the priming fluid from the artificial kidney means.