Author: Glossary

  • Screen oxygenator

    A device for oxygenating blood during extracorporeal circulation. The blood passes over a series of screens that are in an oxygen atmosphere. Oxygen is exchanged in the thin film of blood on the screens.  

  • Rotating disk oxygenator

    A device for oxygenating blood during extracorporeal circulation. A thin film of blood attaches to a disk as it dips into the blood flow. The portion of the disk not in the blood is rotating in an atmosphere of oxygen.  

  • Intravenous membrane oxygenator

    An artificial lung that has been used experimentally to assist in the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, especially in patients with COPD, respiratory failure, or chest trauma.  

  • Bubble oxygenator

    A device for bubbling oxygen through the blood during extracorporeal circulation.  

  • Oxygenation index

    A measure of the efficiency of oxygen exchange by the lungs. The index is used in critical care medicine to assess the severity of acute lung injury and to gauge the effectiveness of ventilator management strategies. Mathematically it is represented as the product of the fractional concentration of inspired oxygen and the mean airway pressure,…

  • Transtracheal oxygenation

    The application of oxygen via a catheter system inserted into the trachea.  

  • Tissue oxygenation

    The oxygen level in tissues. Measurement of the oxygen concentration in body fluids is not as important as knowing the oxygen level in the tissues themselves. Determining the gastrointestinal interstitial pH provides an indication of the adequacy of tissue oxygenation. Decreased oxygen supply leads to anaerobic metabolism in cells, which produces a fall in pH.…

  • Apneic oxygenation

    The supplying of oxygen to the upper airway of patients who are not breathing.  

  • Transtracheal oxygen

    Oxygen that is delivered to the lungs via a cannula placed directly into the trachea.  

  • Singlet oxygen

    A highly active form of oxygen produced during reactions of hydrogen peroxide with superoxide and hypochlorite ions. It is believed that this free radical is bactericidal. Singlet oxygen, an exceptionally reactive variation of the oxygen molecule (O2), is generated during Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) to aid in the destruction of cancer cells. This potent form of…