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An extracorporeal is a medical procedure which is performed outside the body. Extracorporeal devices are the artificial organs that remain outside the body while treating a patient. Extracorporeal devices are useful in hemodialysis and cardiac surgery. [1]
A procedure in which blood is taken from a patient's circulation to have a process applied to it before it is returned to the circulation. All of the apparatuses carrying the blood outside the body are collectively termed the extracorporeal circuit.
Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), which is unrelated to other extracorporeal therapies, in that the device used to break up the kidney stones is held completely outside the body, whilst the lithotripsy itself occurs inside the body.
Extracorporeal radiotherapy, where a large bone with a tumour is removed and given a dose far exceeding what would otherwise be safe to give to a patient. [2] [3]
Extracorporealc pulsatile circulatory control (EPCC) is a process by which brain function (animal model) is kept intact, keeping the organ alive and functioning independent from the rest of the body for several hours. [4]
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), is a form of extracorporeal life support, providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of oxygen, gas exchange or blood supply (perfusion) to sustain life. The technology for ECMO is largely derived from cardiopulmonary bypass, which provides shorter-term support with arrested native circulation. The device used is a membrane oxygenator, also known as an artificial lung.
Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound. IR performs both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures through very small incisions or body orifices. Diagnostic IR procedures are those intended to help make a diagnosis or guide further medical treatment, and include image-guided biopsy of a tumor or injection of an imaging contrast agent into a hollow structure, such as a blood vessel or a duct. By contrast, therapeutic IR procedures provide direct treatment—they include catheter-based medicine delivery, medical device placement, and angioplasty of narrowed structures.
Hemodialysis, also spelled haemodialysis, or simply dialysis, is a process of filtering the blood of a person whose kidneys are not working normally. This type of dialysis achieves the extracorporeal removal of waste products such as creatinine and urea and free water from the blood when the kidneys are in a state of kidney failure. Hemodialysis is one of three renal replacement therapies. An alternative method for extracorporeal separation of blood components such as plasma or cells is apheresis.
Apheresis is a medical technology in which the blood of a person is passed through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the circulation. It is thus an extracorporeal therapy.
Lithotripsy is a procedure involving the physical destruction of hardened masses like kidney stones, bezoars or gallstones, which may be done non invasively. The term is derived from the Greek words meaning "breaking stones".
Hemofiltration, also haemofiltration, is a renal replacement therapy which is used in the intensive care setting. It is usually used to treat acute kidney injury (AKI), but may be of benefit in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome or sepsis. During hemofiltration, a patient's blood is passed through a set of tubing via a machine to a semipermeable membrane where waste products and water are removed by convection. Replacement fluid is added and the blood is returned to the patient.
A ventricular assist device (VAD) is an electromechanical device that provides support for cardiac circulation, which is used either to partially or to completely replace the function of a failing heart. VADs can be used in patients with acute or chronic heart failure, which can occur due to a variety of reasons.
Autotransplantation is the transplantation of organs, tissues, or even particular proteins from one part of the body to another in the same person.
In medicine, photopheresis is a form of apheresis and photodynamic therapy in which blood is subject to apheresis to separate buffy coat from whole blood, chemically treated with 8-methoxypsoralen, exposed to ultraviolet light (UVA), and then returned to the patient. Activated 8-methoxypsoralen crosslinks DNA in exposed cells, ultimately resulting apoptosis of nucleated cells. The photochemically damaged T-cells returned to the patient appear to induce cytotoxic effects on T-cell formation. The mechanism of such “antitumor” action has not been elucidated.
Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) is a surgical technique in which the temperature of the body falls significantly and blood circulation is stopped for up to one hour. It is used when blood circulation to the brain must be stopped because of delicate surgery within the brain, or because of surgery on large blood vessels that lead to or from the brain. DHCA is used to provide a better visual field during surgery due to the cessation of blood flow. DHCA is a form of carefully managed clinical death in which heartbeat and all brain activity cease.
A medical procedure is a course of action intended to achieve a result in the delivery of healthcare.
Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a treatment using powerful acoustic pulses which is mostly used to treat kidney stones and in physical therapy and orthopedics.
Hemoperfusion or hæmoperfusion is a method of filtering the blood extracorporeally to remove a toxin. As with other extracorporeal methods, such as hemodialysis (HD), hemofiltration (HF), and hemodiafiltration (HDF), the blood travels from the patient into a machine, gets filtered, and then travels back into the patient, typically by venovenous access.
An oxygenator is a medical device that is capable of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood of human patients during surgical procedures that may necessitate the interruption or cessation of blood flow in the body, a critical organ or great blood vessel. These organs can be the heart, lungs or liver, while the great vessels can be the aorta, pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins or vena cava.
Aquapheresis is a medical technology designed to remove excess salt and water from the body safely, predictably, and effectively from patients with a condition called fluid overload. It removes the excess salt and water and helps to restore a patient's proper fluid balance, which is called euvolemia.
Thoratec Corporation is a United States-based company that develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary medical devices used for mechanical circulatory support for the treatment of heart-failure patients worldwide. It is a global leader in mechanical circulatory support devices, particularly in ventricular assist devices (VADs).
Blood irradiation therapy is an alternative medical procedure in which the blood is exposed to low-level light for therapeutic reasons. The practice was originally developed in the United States, but most recent research on it has been conducted in Germany and in Russia. Low-level laser therapy has been tested for a wide range of conditions, but rigorous double-blinded studies have not yet been performed. Furthermore, it has been claimed that ultraviolet irradiation of blood kills bacteria by DNA damage and also activation of the immune system. Blood irradiation therapy is highly controversial, and has fallen from mainstream use since its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s.
Impella is a family of medical devices used for temporary ventricular support in patients with depressed heart function. Some versions of the device can provide left heart support during other forms of mechanical circulatory support including ECMO and Centrimag.
A liver support system or diachysis is a type of therapeutic device to assist in performing the functions of the liver. Such systems focus either on removing the accumulating toxins, or providing additional replacement of the metabolic functions of the liver through the inclusion of hepatocytes to the device. This system is in trial to help people with acute liver failure (ALF) or acute-on-chronic liver failure.
Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that passes the patient's blood through a machine in a process to oxygenate the blood supply. A portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) device is used as an adjunct to standard CPR. A patient who is deemed to be in cardiac arrest refractory to CPR has percutaneous catheters inserted into the femoral vein and artery. Theoretically, the application of ECPR allows for the return of cerebral perfusion in a more sustainable manner than with external compressions alone. By attaching an ECMO device to a person who has acutely undergone cardiovascular collapse, practitioners can maintain end-organ perfusion whilst assessing the potential reversal of causal pathology, with the goal of improving long-term survival and neurological outcomes.
