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What is the role of the Department of Perfusion Technology?

Staff from the Department of Perfusion Technology are responsible for the maintenance of all of the equipment and devices needed for cardiac surgery procedures, including extracorporeal circulatory support systems such as cardiopulmonary bypass (heart-lung) machines and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), artificial support systems such as temporarily or permanently implanted single or dual chamber ventricular assist devices (LVAD and BVAD), and the intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP).

In addition, the Department of Perfusion Technology is also responsible for the correct operation of technology used in arrhythmia surgery (ablation of atrial fibrillation), flow measurement systems for bypass graft surgery, systems for the processing and filtering of blood components, the maintenance and monitoring of devices used for point of care (POC) coagulation testing, cooling and warming systems and systems used to stimulate the heart. Staff from this Department are also responsible for the preparation (crimping) of prosthetic heart valves for both transcutaneous and transapical implantation procedures (TAVI).