Unitary venous return reservoir with cardiotomy filter

Abstract

A unitary device for the treatment and collection of blood from two different sources during a surgical procedure comprises a hollow housing made of a rigid, preferably transparent, material, first and second blood inlets in the housing, a first blood treatment element inside the housing comprising a layer of porous defoaming material and a layer of non-woven depth filter material, and a second blood treatment element inside the housing comprising a layer of porous defoaming material and free of any depth filter material. The novel device also includes internal walls for providing two blood flow paths therein, one through the first inlet, the first blood treatment element, a blood collection reservoir defined within the device and a treated blood outlet in the bottom wall of the housing, and the other through the second inlet, the second blood treatment element, the blood collection reservoir and the blood outlet. The latter blood flow path bypasses at least the depth filter material layer of the first blood treatment element. In typical use in an extracorporeal flow circuit, cardiotomy blood is introduced to the first inlet, venous return blood is introduced to the second inlet and the common blood outlet is connected to an extracorporeal blood pump. As a result, passage of the relatively clean venous return blood through a depth filter material is avoided.