life-support system

life-support system

n.1. Equipment that creates a viable environment under conditions otherwise incompatible with life.2. Medical equipment that augments or substitutes for an essential bodily function, such as respiration, enabling a patient who otherwise might not survive to live.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	life-support system - equipment that makes life possible in otherwise deadly environmental conditions; "the astronauts relied on their life-support systems"life supportequipment - an instrumentality needed for an undertaking or to perform a service
	2.	life-support system - medical equipment that assists or replaces important bodily functions and so enables a patient to live who otherwise might not survive; "the patient is on life support"life supportequipment - an instrumentality needed for an undertaking or to perform a service