Patent ID: 7010337

Claim:
A method of at least partially evaluating a selected aspect of a patient's metabolic function, wherein said selected aspect is an abnormal shunt of blood, indicating either or both of an anatomic or a physiological deficiency of at least one of said patient's heart and lungs, the method comprising: measuring separately at least one selected characteristic of blood present in each of at least two selected major thoracic blood-containing structures by using at least one electronic sensor located within said patient's thoracic cavity, but outside said selected major thoracic blood-containing structures, to observe said blood through a respective wall of each of said selected major thoracic blood-containing structures without removing any of said blood from said selected major thoracic blood-containing structures, and comparing respective resulting values of said at least one selected characteristic as measured in each of said at least two selected major thoracic blood-containing structures to determine whether an abnormal shunt is present.