Heart-Lung Machine — Questions and answers
Read the full story
What inspired Dr. John Gibbon Jr. to start working on a device to help with heart surgery?
Choices
- He wanted to learn how to fix broken clocks.
- He saw a young patient die during an operation on her heart. ✓
- He was asked by his teacher to invent something new.
- He wanted to become famous for a big invention.
Answer: He saw a young patient die during an operation on her heart.
From page 1
What was the biggest problem with trying to do surgery inside the heart before Dr. Gibbon's machine?
Choices
- Surgeons didn't have sharp enough tools.
- The operating rooms were too small.
- Stopping the heart even for a short time would cause serious brain damage or death. ✓
- Patients were too scared to have heart surgery.
Answer: Stopping the heart even for a short time would cause serious brain damage or death.
From page 2
What was a major issue with Dr. Gibbon's early machine designs?
Choices
- They were too quiet to hear working.
- They often damaged blood cells or created dangerous air bubbles. ✓
- He couldn't find enough electricity to power them.
- His colleagues didn't believe in his ideas.
Answer: They often damaged blood cells or created dangerous air bubbles.
From page 3
What biological problem did Dr. Gibbon face when blood touched the machine's parts?
Choices
- The blood would change color and become invisible.
- The blood would start to sing and distract the surgeons.
- Red blood cells could get hurt, and the blood could form dangerous clots. ✓
- The blood made the machine too hot to touch.
Answer: Red blood cells could get hurt, and the blood could form dangerous clots.
From page 4
What two main inventions helped Dr. Gibbon finally make a working heart-lung machine?
Choices
- A special type of air conditioner and a strong magnet.
- A roller pump and a screen oxygenator. ✓
- A tiny camera and a loud speaker.
- A fast computer and a new kind of medicine.
Answer: A roller pump and a screen oxygenator.
From page 5
What is the very first step when using the Heart-Lung Machine during an operation?
Choices
- The surgeon stops the patient's heart right away.
- Tubes are carefully put into veins to take blood away from the heart. ✓
- The machine starts to make loud humming noises.
- The patient drinks a special liquid to prepare for surgery.
Answer: Tubes are carefully put into veins to take blood away from the heart.
From page 6
What happens to the blood after it enters the Heart-Lung Machine?
Choices
- It is immediately sent back to the patient.
- It is frozen and stored for later.
- It gets oxygen, lets go of carbon dioxide, is filtered, and warmed. ✓
- It is used to power the machine's internal parts.
Answer: It gets oxygen, lets go of carbon dioxide, is filtered, and warmed.
From page 7
Who was the first person to have successful open-heart surgery using Dr. Gibbon's Heart-Lung Machine?
Choices
- Dr. Gibbon himself.
- An 18-year-old girl named Cecilia Bavolek. ✓
- A famous poet named Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- Dr. Eleanor Vance.
Answer: An 18-year-old girl named Cecilia Bavolek.
From page 8
What did Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Richard DeWall contribute to the Heart-Lung Machine's progress?
Choices
- They made the machine much larger and more complicated.
- They created simpler, disposable bubble oxygenators. ✓
- They decided to stop using the machine for surgeries.
- They invented new medicines to use with the machine.
Answer: They created simpler, disposable bubble oxygenators.
From page 9
What is one important way the Heart-Lung Machine is used in hospitals today?
Choices
- To help astronauts travel to space.
- To power giant robots in movies.
- To help surgeons perform operations like valve repair and heart bypass. ✓
- To make delicious smoothies for patients.
Answer: To help surgeons perform operations like valve repair and heart bypass.
From page 10