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Pulmonary artery catheters designed to deliver an indicator (e.g., saline or dextrose) solution at a temperature lower than the blood into the heart. These catheters include an exit port for the indicator solution and an electrical component in which resistance varies with the temperature (i.e., a thermistor) at their distal tip. The distal tip is advanced to the pulmonary artery while the exit port remains into the right atrium; when a known volume of solution is rapidly injected, it mixes with venous blood into the heart, which in turn pumps it into the pulmonary artery. The changes in temperature (cooling) measured by the thermistor are graphically displayed versus time as a thermal dilution curve, from which the cardiac output (L/min) and other hemodynamic parameters are automatically derived by an external unit.
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