Blood Warmer Machines for a Safe and Easy Transfusion Therapy
One of hypothermia causes is administering cold blood intravenously. The consequences are dangerous and that is why they should be prevented. This is what a blood warmer machine is for.
Blood warmers are frequently used in different ways in a critical care setting. Though there are different manufacturers of such units, all the devices work in the same way: the blood tubing is placed in the warmer and the circulation is warmed. The majority of time the units are used in critically ill patients in combination with a rapid infuser machine. The task of such machine is to put the blood into the patient quickly.
Each unit does things a bit differently. For example, there are such that have policies in which the blood is warmed, even in stable patients.
Such blood warmers are very helpful in preventing injury victims and medical patients from experiencing hypothermia, which is a life-threatening condition. The machines are disposable, lightweight and require no proprietary tubing. All these features make them easy to operate and transport.
Blood Warmer Machines Then and Now
What made engineers develop a blood warmer? Of course, its probable cost and reliability. It all started in 2001 with the support from the Faculty of Dentistry at Prince of Songkla University.
The engineers set three main aims that machine should accomplish:
- heat providing
- heat control
- heat ventilation
They used an electric soldering iron in order to test the equipment. But as the iron uses alternating current, it was too difficult to control the machine, plus there were observed some temperature fluctuations.
In order to keep the temperature stable all the time they used direct current. The changes that the very first machine has undergone enabled it to operate on direct current, as well as control the temperature to one decimal point.
What about now? Today a blood warmer is widely used to warm fluids and blood prior to its transfusion to a patient. Such devices are useful in operating rooms, intensive care units and emergency settings, as they help to prevent hypothermia. The device warms the blood to the temperature that is safe for infusion. The beneficial features of such warmers are:
- an audible alarm system
- automatic adjustment of temperature to flow rate
- portability
- they have a setup time of thirty seconds, as well as a warm up time of forty-five seconds
- being disposable, they do not n require maintenance and repair
- they are inexpensive to be purchased and stored
Blood Infusion Warmer
Blood infusion warmer aims at warming the blood prior to the transfusion therapy. The blood is warmed to be infusioned into the body of a patient by warming the infusion pipe. It uses a temperature difference signal that is necessary for proportional heating of the cold blood. That is the difference of two temperatures. The device keeps heating the blood bag till the time it equals the body temperature.
There is no emergency room or hospital that could do without blood warmer machines. Day after day they save lives of thousands of people worldwide.
