heart-lung machine

noun

ˌhärt-ˈləŋ- 

: a mechanical pump that maintains circulation during heart surgery by shunting blood away from the heart, oxygenating it, and returning it to the body

Examples of heart-lung machine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This alternative type of cancer treatment uses a heart-lung machine to heat a patient's blood outside the body as a means of shrinking tumors. —Khloe Quill, Fox News, 19 Feb. 2025

The procedure offers an alternative to connecting the patient to a heart-lung machine and repairing or replacing the mitral valve in open-heart surgery. —Kff Health News, The Mercury News, 16 July 2024

Most viral pneumonia can only be treated with supportive care, such as providing oxygen; people with severe cases may require ventilators, heart-lung machines and other forms of mechanical ventilation, Offit says. —Tara Haelle, Scientific American, 19 Dec. 2023

The basic technology behind ECPR has existed since the 1950s, when both CPR and the first heart-lung machines were developed. —Erica Westly, Scientific American, 27 Nov. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1953, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for heart-lung machine

• acetylene
• adenosine
• amphetamine
• anthropocene
• antipyrine
• apomorphine
• apoprotein
• aquamarine
• arsphenamine
• azobenzene
• buprenorphine
• chlorobenzene

Medical Definition

heart-lung machine

noun

heart-lung ma·​chine ˌhärt-ˈləŋ-mə-ˌshēn 

: a mechanical pump that maintains circulation during heart surgery by shunting blood away from the heart, oxygenating it, and returning it to the body