57: Novel biomimetic oxygenator design for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Introduction: Severe cardio-respiratory failure is still a major cause of mortality worldwide. The most commonly accepted ECMO related problems are: coagulopathy (thrombosis and/or bleeding) and oxidative stress caused by the need to use high oxygen concentration and infections. Methods: A group of experts in ECMO, respiratory medicine and biomedical engineering have created a think tank which resulted in innovative projects of a new structure of ECMO oxygenator. The project has been tested based on Ab Initio techniques. Results: The essence of novel oxygenator construction is based on the distribution, direction, and anchoring of capillaries. The gas exchange chamber has a longitudinal shape. The inner part of the chamber contains capillary bundles made from semi-permeable material organized parallel to the chamber’s longitudinal axis and twisted at angles from 90 to 360 degrees without the need for spacers facilitating blood flow laminarity. The specified arrangement of inlet and outlet openings in the bloodstream ensures blood and gas flow in the counter flow direction. Innovations should facilitate the reduction of oxygen partial pressure, reduce the risk of thrombus formation, and improve the effectiveness and safety of ECMO. This assessment was conducted without support from ECMO companies. To describe these developments, 37 patent applications to the Polish Patent Office have been prepared, until now 24 patents have been approved. Based on this, complex patent applications to the World Intellectual Property Organization have been submitted. Conclusion: Based on already obtained patents, these innovations have a potential to open a new era in ECMO therapy, however further confirmation from clinical trials is needed.