ASELSAN's domestic heart-lung machine LIFELINE HLM was successfully used for the first time in an open-heart surgery at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu visited the operated patient and made statements to the press.
Memişoğlu said, 'Today is a day of pride for us. It is one of the turning points in Turkish health industry.' With the successful completion of the surgery, Turkey has passed another critical threshold in its goal of domestic and national production in health technologies.
The operated patient and the device's process
The operated patient is 51-year-old Bülent Yeniay. LIFELINE HLM supported the surgical team by taking over the patient's circulation and oxygenation functions during the surgery.
The device's animal experiments and clinical studies were conducted by the Turkish Health Institutes Presidency (TÜSEB). ASELSAN and TÜSEB began collaborating on the development of the heart-lung machine in 2020.
Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said, 'The device is domestic, the venue is domestic, the patient is domestic.' Memişoğlu also stated, 'Turkey has now begun to achieve successes in the health industry, which it has been hinting at. Under the leadership of our President, we are doing our best to live the Turkish Century in healthcare that protects, develops and produces.'
TÜSEB President Prof. Dr. Ümit Kervan stated, 'This device is both valuable and a very strategic product for us. Without a heart-lung machine, we cannot perform open-heart surgeries today.'
Heart surgery in Turkey and the importance of the device
Approximately 80 thousand open-heart surgeries are performed annually in Turkey, and 95 percent of these surgeries cannot be performed without a heart-lung machine. Turkey has around 300 centers that perform open-heart surgeries.
Laboratory studies of LIFELINE HLM were conducted at Bilkent City Hospital, and it was stated that the device gave better results than other devices. The device developed by ASELSAN won 3 awards for its design and production technology before animal studies began.
