Hollow fibre oxygenator, assembly containing same and method for making same

A hollow fibre oxygenator, assembly containing same, and method for making same wherein a hollow fibre oxygenator element (60) utilizes gas permeable hollow fibres (62) to transfer oxygen into and carbon dioxide from blood flowing around the outside of the fibres (62) while oxygen flows througn the fibre lumens. The hollow fibres (62) are arranged in tapes (70) wound helically in layers around a hollow cylindrical core (40). The fibres (62) in each tape (70) angularly cross the fibres (62) in the radially adjacent tape (70), are spaced axially from each other, and are substantially equally spaced radially from the periphery of the core (40) such that the crossing fibres (62) in the radially adjacent layers (70) form small interconnected gaps that permit thin-film radial blood flow with a low blood phase pressure drop and efficient gas transfer. The oxygenator element (60) is sealed into a shell (12) to form spaced apart oxygen header chamber (48,53) at opposite ends of the core (40) that are sealed from an annular blood chamber (18) surrounding the oxygenator element (60). The shell (12) is provided with inlet and outlet ports (64) for supplying oxygen to one header chamber, through the hollow fibre lumens, and out of the opposite chamber while blood supplied to the core (40) permeates radially outwardly around the hollow fibres (62) and through the layers (70) to the surrounding annular blood chamber (18) as purified and oxygenated blood. The oxygenator (60) is integrated into a single unit assembly having a top blood reservoir (24) attached to a blood heater (26) that is attached to the blood oxygenator (60) in vertical array.