Lillehei solved that problem with cross-circulation, in which a donor, linked to the patient by plastic hose and a simple pump, acted as a living heart-lung machine.

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But this is a DVR, not a heart-lung machine.

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For years, surgeons had the technical tools to make simple repairs on the heart, but they couldn't help patients until the development of the heart-lung machine made it possible to preserve the body for more than a few minutes without a heartbeat.

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The operating room itself contained a maze of plastic piping that twisted though the air between the heart-and-lung machine and the operating table.

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