Such machines are part of a growing arsenal of new techniques and equipment that surgeons can mix and match for individual patients with individual problems.
Cardiac surgeons are accustomed to change and improvements.
This is a fairly young specialty. Aldea and his colleagues at the UW can call on a variety of new techniques that are now tailored to individual patients. As recently as five years ago, patients who needed heart surgery had only a few options. Today, doctors have new knowledge, medications and operating techniques. One innovation involves biocompatible machinery.