# HIPEC perfusion pumps and PIPAC nebulisers

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/hipec-pipac-devices/  
OnCo record `hipec-pipac-devices` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The pump and heater that circulate warm chemotherapy through the abdomen at the end of an operation for cancer that has spread across the abdominal lining, and the small nebuliser that sprays chemotherapy as an aerosol through keyhole ports when surgery is not possible.

## Summary

Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy needs a perfusion circuit: a roller pump, a heat exchanger, inflow and outflow cannulas placed in the abdomen and temperature probes, with the chemotherapy (mitomycin, oxaliplatin, cisplatin or doxorubicin) circulated for 30 to 90 minutes at about 41 to 43 degrees after cytoreductive surgery has removed all visible disease. Purpose-built systems replaced adapted cardiac bypass equipment: the Belmont Hyperthermia Pump, ThermaSolutions' ThermoChem HT-2000, RanD's Performer HT and Gamida's SunChip log temperature and flow and are cleared for the procedure in their markets, and the same circuits perform hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy and isolated limb perfusion. Pressurised intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy, introduced in 2011, uses a nebuliser (the CapnoPen from Capnomed, later Reger Medizintechnik) attached to a standard high-pressure injector to spray a low dose of drug into the gas-inflated abdomen during laparoscopy, giving deeper and more even drug distribution at a fraction of the systemic dose; it is repeatable every few weeks for peritoneal metastases from gastric, ovarian, colorectal and pancreatic cancer that cannot be resected.

The devices are the easy part: HIPEC's benefit depends on complete cytoreduction and is proven mainly in pseudomyxoma peritonei and mesothelioma, questioned in colorectal cancer after the PRODIGE 7 trial and supported in ovarian cancer by the OVHIPEC-1 trial; PIPAC has palliative and disease-control data but no randomised survival evidence yet. Both concentrate in a small number of specialist centres.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: established
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Tags: machines-wave2
- Principle: A closed extracorporeal circuit with roller pump and heat exchanger perfuses heated cytotoxic solution through the peritoneal cavity after cytoreduction; PIPAC nebulises a low dose of drug into the pressurised, gas-filled abdomen at laparoscopy for deeper and more uniform penetration.
- Since: 1990
- Strengths: Direct exposure of the peritoneal surface at high concentration; Heat enhances platinum and mitomycin cytotoxicity; PIPAC is repeatable and low-dose
- Limitations: Benefit depends on complete cytoreduction; Randomised evidence mixed by tumour type; Specialist centres only; staff drug exposure needs controls

## Sources

- Belmont Medical Technologies: Hyperthermia Pump: https://www.belmontmedtech.com/
- Alyami et al., Pressurised intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy: rationale, evidence, and potential indications (Lancet Oncology 2019): https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30318-3

## Connected records

- technologies: [Closed-system transfer devices for hazardous drugs (PhaSeal, ChemoLock, Equashield)](https://onco.cc/technologies/closed-system-transfer-devices/), [Cytotoxic chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/cytotoxic-chemotherapy/), [HIPEC / PIPAC (intraperitoneal chemotherapy)](https://onco.cc/technologies/hipec/), [Hyperthermia](https://onco.cc/technologies/hyperthermia/), [Hyperthermia systems (BSD-2000, EHY-2000, superficial and interstitial applicators)](https://onco.cc/technologies/hyperthermia-systems/), [Robotic & minimally invasive surgery](https://onco.cc/technologies/robotic-surgery/)
- cancers: [Appendiceal cancer and pseudomyxoma peritonei](https://onco.cc/cancers/appendiceal/), [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Ovarian cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ovarian/), [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/pancreatic/), [Peritoneal mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/peritoneal-mesothelioma/)
- fronts: [Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/chemotherapy/), [Devices & Physical Therapies](https://onco.cc/fronts/devices/), [Surgery & Interventional](https://onco.cc/fronts/surgery/)
- drugs: [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/), [Doxorubicin](https://onco.cc/drugs/doxorubicin/), [Mitomycin C](https://onco.cc/drugs/mitomycin/), [Oxaliplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/oxaliplatin/)
- companies: [Belmont Medical Technologies](https://onco.cc/companies/belmont-medical-technologies/), [Capnomed (Reger Medizintechnik)](https://onco.cc/companies/capnomed/)
- terms: [HIPEC (hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy)](https://onco.cc/terms/hipec-procedure/)

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