Support devices 2

blue: right ventricular assist device.  Intake tubing is radio-opaque (shaded blue), and takes blood from the right atrium (RA) to a pump (shown diagramatically, actually located inferior to the image overlying the abdomen).  Blood is pumped back into the pulmonary artery via a conduit that is only partly radio-opaque (shaded blue and blue dotted line).

Some patients awaiting transplant need only LV assistance, but this patient had bi-ventricular failure.