SUSTAINING LIFE DURING OPEN-HEART SURGERY
Background
Open-heart surgery requires the surgeon to stop the patient's heart in order to operate on it. While the heart is stopped, a perfusion system takes over the function of both the heart and the lungs, circulating and oxygenating the patient's blood throughout the procedure. The patient stays alive on cardiopulmonary bypass for the entire surgery, sometimes for several hours.
COBE Cardiovascular has been a leading producer of perfusion systems and cardiopulmonary equipment since the 1960s, with products used in cardiac surgical suites around the world. Their heart-lung machines combine multiple pumps, oxygenators, monitors, and control systems into a single console operated by a perfusionist throughout each procedure.
Areteworks was brought in to design the user experience across the perfusion control system, supporting the perfusionist's workflow during long, complex, life-critical procedures.
UX FOR THE PERFUSIONIST'S WORKSTATION
Challenge
The perfusionist is a highly specialized clinician trained specifically in extracorporeal circulation. During cardiac surgery, the perfusionist manages the patient's entire circulation, oxygenation, temperature, and anticoagulation in real time, communicating constantly with the cardiac surgeon and anesthesiologist. Every decision is consequential. A wrong setting can become life-threatening within minutes.
The perfusion system itself is one of the most complex consoles in the operating room. Multiple pumps run simultaneously, each managing a different part of the circuit. Pressure, temperature, oxygen saturation, and flow rates must all be visible and adjustable. Alarms must be unmistakable but not overwhelming. The system must support documentation and data capture for the patient's surgical record.
The design challenge was creating a workstation where a perfusionist could maintain situational awareness across all these parameters for hours at a time, take action quickly when conditions changed, and never lose track of the patient's status. The hardware controls, monitor displays, and alarm system had to work together as one coherent workstation rather than a collection of separate instruments.
TRANSLATING PERFUSION WORKFLOW INTO INTUITIVE UX
Solution
Areteworks led the user experience design for the perfusion control system, beginning with observation of perfusionists during open-heart procedures and conversations about how the workstation actually got used over the course of long surgeries.
We mapped the perfusionist's workflow from pre-bypass setup through initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass, the maintenance phase during the procedure, and the eventual weaning from bypass at the end of the surgery. Each phase had different priorities, different parameters to watch, and different actions to take. The interface was designed to surface the right information at the right phase, without overwhelming the perfusionist with data that wasn't currently relevant.
The console interface used clear visual hierarchy to keep critical patient parameters always in view, while controls for each pump and module were arranged to match the perfusionist's mental model of the extracorporeal circuit. Alarms were tiered to distinguish between informational notifications, warnings that required attention, and critical alerts that demanded immediate action.
The final design supported cardiac surgical teams managing complex procedures across a wide range of patient profiles, from routine valve repairs to multi-hour congenital heart corrections. The system has supported open-heart surgical care in cardiac centers internationally.