An extracorporeal procedure is a medical procedure which is performed outside the body. Extracorporeal devices are the artificial organs that remain outside the body while treating a patient. Extracorporeal devices are useful in hemodialysis and cardiac surgery.[1]
A procedure in which blood is taken from a patient's circulation to have a process applied to it before it is returned to the circulation. All of the apparatuses carrying the blood outside the body are collectively termed the extracorporeal circuit.
Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), which is unrelated to other extracorporeal therapies, in that the device used to break up the kidney stones is held completely outside the body, whilst the lithotripsy itself occurs inside the body.
Extracorporeal radiotherapy, where a large bone with a tumour is removed and given a dose far exceeding what would otherwise be safe to give to a patient.
Extracorporeal pulsatile circulatory control (EPCC) is a process by which brain function (animal model) is kept intact, keeping the organ alive and functioning independent from the rest of the body for several hours.[2]