| TECHNOLOGY |
"Our goal is to supplement but not replace the lungs" of patients who have difficulty breathing. Co. developing an intravenous membrane oxygenator. artificial lung will free emphysema patients from uncomfortable mechanical ventilators when they need assistance breathing.
Instead, patients will be able to eat, talk, and move around while a temporary catheter, implanted into the vena cava and connected to a mobile unit, substitutes 40 to 60% of a patient's compromised lung capacity. Co says he is working now to reduce the size of the catheter, which uses microporous polypropylene hollow-fiber membranes to diffuse oxygen into the blood and pull out carbon dioxide.
|