Cannulation
Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:44 am
Cannulation refers to the surgical procedure of inserting a cannula (tube) into a major artery. This then allows various solutions and chemicals to be perfused (pumped) into the circulatory system. Cannulation remains our most urgent unsolved problem. We've spent years working on this problem, and it's still not solved to my satisfaction. Scientifically, the best approach would be to perform the surgery while the patient is still alive. This is done routinely on animals in laboratory settings, but we do not have this option on humans yet. So all remaining options are compromises of one sort or another.
We continue to make progress each week on new techniques, new instruments, new equipment, etc. For example:
http://www.oregoncryo.com/manual/cannulae.html
I feel like we are only about a month or two away from having an extremely reliable and fast technique. Of course, even after we reach that point, there will be plenty more improvements that we can make. Refining the procedure will take a few more years of work. For example, there is a particular custom surgical instrument that I've wanted to build for years, and which I think we will build some day. It would look like small forceps, but with a ring clamp on the end to hold a cannula within a carotid. We already employ a variety of techniques for this task, including a suture snare, a Javid carotid artery clamp, and a Tofflemire matrix band retainer. But a custom instrument could be faster and more reliable.
We continue to make progress each week on new techniques, new instruments, new equipment, etc. For example:
http://www.oregoncryo.com/manual/cannulae.html
I feel like we are only about a month or two away from having an extremely reliable and fast technique. Of course, even after we reach that point, there will be plenty more improvements that we can make. Refining the procedure will take a few more years of work. For example, there is a particular custom surgical instrument that I've wanted to build for years, and which I think we will build some day. It would look like small forceps, but with a ring clamp on the end to hold a cannula within a carotid. We already employ a variety of techniques for this task, including a suture snare, a Javid carotid artery clamp, and a Tofflemire matrix band retainer. But a custom instrument could be faster and more reliable.