International Biological Engineering Journals

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) can replace the lungs’ gas exchange capacity until recovery or may be used as bridge-to-transplant in terminal lung failure. However, limited hemocompatibility associated with possible subsequent plasma leakage and loss of gas transfer capacity due to unspecific protein adsorption on the gas exchange membranesas well as inflammatory processes initiated by the foreign material’s surface limit its use for long-term application. Also, the limitations delineated above constrained the development of a fully implantable lung assist device. In-depth investigation on the procoagulatory and proinflammatory processes has been carried out on cardiopulmonary bypass procedures for open heart surgery. These investigations have not only revealed altered functional status of all blood cell lines and the coagulation cascade, resulting in consumptive coagulopathy with multiple microemboli ensuing. Furthermore, a set of more than 70 plasma proteins altered in their function triggers a substantive inflammatory response and a temporary dysfunction of nearly every internal organ. [Cornelissen CG, Jockenhoevel S (2013) The Biohybrid Lung - Current Perspective]

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Last date updated on September, 2024