METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING IMMEDIATE SUPPLEMENTAL BLOOD FLOW TO AN ORGAN

摘要

The system and method creates immediate supplemental blood flow into an organ by punching a cannula into the organ to remove a core of the organ. The process of punching creates essentially no heat and therefore does not cauterize the wound. In the case of the heart this results in immediate supplemental blood flow into the heart muscle. Animal tests have shown this immediate blood flow is sufficient to sustain the heart even when a major coronary artery is completely blocked. The procedure may be performed in an open surgical field procedure by punching cores from the outside of the heart in or it may be a percutaneous catheter procedure punching cores from the inside-out of an organ.