Two uses of a shunt are:
- In medicine, a shunt is used to relieve excess fluid pressure in the body. One common example is the ventriculoperitoneal shunt used to treat hydrocephalus by draining excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain to another part of the body, thus reducing pressure within the brain. Another example is a portacaval shunt, which helps manage elevated blood pressure in the portal veins in liver disease by diverting blood flow to reduce the pressure.
- In electrical devices, a shunt is a low-value resistor connected in parallel to extend the range of an ammeter or to allow a galvanometer to measure large currents by diverting most of the current through the shunt resistance.
These represent typical applications of shunts in medical and electrical contexts.
