0 a machine that sends blood and oxygen around someone's body when their heart is not working, usually because it has been stopped for a medical operation: --
The patient is put on a heart-lung machine to keep the body oxygenated.
This technique can be done during surgery on a "beating" heart, in which the patient is not hooked up to a heart-lung machine.
A study showed that many patients who were on a heart-lung machine during bypass surgery suffered a decline in mental abilities later.
The surgery requires patients to be hooked to a heart-lung machine, which pumps blood and oxygen while the heart is out of commission.
The new technique can be done without stopping the heart and using a heart-lung machine.