In most open heart surgery procedures, the patient's blood circulates outside the body in an extracorporeal tubing circuit. The main purpose of the oxygenator during this procedure is to increase oxygen in the blood and remove excess carbon dioxide; it essentially serves as the patient's lungs during open heart surgery.

Before introducing the blood into the circuit, it is primed with a solution to remove air bubbles. The prime solution dilutes the blood and reduces its oxygen-carrying capacity, so it's critical that the tubing circuit is as small as possible – especially in cases where the patient's body is small, as with infant patients.

The CAPIOX FX oxygenator decreases the amount of prime solution needed in the extracorporeal circuit by integrating the functions of the oxygenator and the arterial filter into one unit, significantly reducing prime volume. A number of studies have demonstrated that reducing the prime volume in the extracorporeal circuit contributes to a reduction in blood transfusions.

The CAPIOX FX oxygenator was first introduced in Japan in 2008. European clinical evaluations began in October 2008 with the CAPIOX® FX05 Oxygenator for neonates and infants. Beginning in 2009 the CAPIOX® FX15 Oxygenator designed for children and small adults and the CAPIOX® FX25 Oxygenator for all adult patients completed the CAPIOX FX family of oxygenators.

Today the CAPIOX FX Oxygenators have been used in more than 50 cardiac centers in Europe and received favourable reviews from clinicians. Recently the results of a clinical evaluation of CAPIOX FX05 were published in the journal Perfusion (Perfusion 2009, 24, 107-112). The authors confirm that CAPIOX FX05 primes as quickly and easily as conventional oxygenators and offers the same performance. Compared to a setup with separate arterial filter a reduction in prime volume and foreign surface area can be achieved with the CAPIOX FX05 oxygenator with subsequent reduction in inflammation and potential elimination or reduction of blood product exposures.

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