Emergency intraoperation blood saver

When I was a Ph.D student in neurosurgery in Bordenko Institue of Neurosurgery in Moscow in 1991, I had an idea to save intra operations losed blood with simple idea that can be easy done in every operation room and use it only in case of  patients life is in danger because of bleeding.

During the surgery I thought of the blood which the patient looses inside the brain during the surgery.

I was watching  how we get ride of the blood which the patient looses during the surgery by suction apparatus which exists in every surgery room, also this apparatus can be used to get ride of sweepings.

I was watching the blood when it mixes with the central spiny fluid, and this doesn’t prevent the transmission of blood. Because I know Shunt operations, which we make for the patients when they have Hydrocephalia. Where we install a pipe under the patient skin from the head to the vein in the neck inside the blood vessels , and to leave the central spiny fluid to flow in the blood. It is know that the brain is sterilized.

Therefore, we have bleeding blood among sterilized milieu and doesn’t mix with anything which prevents to collect it and re-use if necessary. I thought of a very simple idea which enables us to collect this lost blood, then giving it back to the patient when he needs blood due the bleed.

The idea is very simple as follows : by using  small vessel 400 ml,  which contains  coagulation prevention liquid and works as the same principle of suction vessel, it means inserting and pulling the air. Therefore the pulled blood flows in the vessel which contains coagulation prevention liquid. The vessel is connected to the suction apparatus which exists in the surgery room, which was not designed for this purpose, where the applied pressure value  at the minimum value is high and leads to destroy the red cells. Therefore, we must find a method to decrease this value. In order to know the applied pressure value, it is enough to close the pipe ingate and looking to the needle of the pressure meter apparatus.

I put the indicator of applied pressure on the apparatus on the minimum value, then I closed the pipe ingate and looked to the pressure indicator . to decrease this indicator to the lower value, I made small holes in the out pipe from the apparatus body of suction to the big pipe as in the figure 3. Then I got the pressure value which pulls the blood without leading to destroy the red cells.

I made a test for the blood which I collected, and I noticed that it didn’t subjected to any hemolysis or coagulation. Also I made a test of implantation to assure that the blood was not subjected to any microbial pollution. The result was negative, it means the blood is not pollutant after 7 days from implantation.