Over the past century, heart operations that once were unthinkable have become commonplace. Thousands of times a day, surgeons graft arteries, fix structural defects or transplant entire hearts.

Dr. John Gibbon invented the heart-lung machine and used it to perform the world’s first successful open-heart surgery on May 6, 1953. Dr. John Gibbon was a researcher and surgeon at Jefferson Medical ...

Perfusion describes when fluids such as blood and lymph pass through tissue. A perfusionist is a professional who operates machinery when this process requires assistance, such as during heart surgery ...

Cardiopulmonary bypass is a surgical procedure that uses a machine to perform the functions of the heart and lungs. It enables a surgeon to open and repair the heart without interrupting its essential ...

ECMO is a type of life support for people with severe heart and lung conditions. ECMO involves a machine that pumps your blood (when your heart can’t) and adds oxygen to it (when your lungs can’t). An ...