Development of the roller pump for use in the cardiopulmonary bypass circuit.

In 1937, John Gibbon proposed his concept of extracorporeal circulation as an aid to cardiac surgery. Subsequently, a number of different types of pumps were tried in the extracorporeal circuit. Today, the pump used most often is a positive displacement twin roller pump, originally patented by Porter and Bradley in 1855. The rotary pump has undergone some minor modifications prior to its use in clinical cardiopulmonary bypass. Cardiovascular surgeons owe much to Porter and Bradley for an invention that has proved both efficient and effective for cardiopulmonary bypass and has allowed operations on an open heart in a relatively dry, bloodless field.