Toward portable microchannel artificial lungs for veteran rehabilitation

 描述（由申请人提供）： 该技术开发项目的长期目标是通过开发第一个真正便携、生物相容、能够提供短期和长期呼吸支持的人工肺，改善患有肺部疾病的退伍军人的康复。目前的人工肺最近已被用于肺病患者的康复;然而，需要在气体交换、生物相容性和便携性方面取得重大进展，以充分发挥其潜力。微通道人工肺有望成为一种新型的真正便携式人工肺。 肺通过特征尺寸和血液通道设计，密切模仿那些发现在他们的自然对应。我们的小型微通道人工肺实现了迄今为止任何人工肺的最高气体交换效率。通过应用定制的生物相容性表面涂层，它们的使用寿命得到了提高。当前Merit审查提案的目的是：1）将我们的微通道人工肺的膜面积和额定流量增加100倍; 2）通过一氧化氮释放进一步增加我们的微通道人工肺的生物相容性;以及，3）在动物中进行初始气体交换和寿命研究。这些目标对于将这项有前途的技术推向退伍军人肺康复的初始急性系统至关重要。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of this technology development project is improve the rehabilitation of veterans suffering from lung diseases through the development of the first truly portable, biocompatible, artificial lung capable of short and long term respiratory support. Current artificil lungs have recently been used to rehabilitate lung disease patients; however, significant advances in gas exchange, biocompatibility, and portability are required to fully realize their potential. Microchannel artificial lungs promise to enable a new class of truly portable artificial lungs through feature sizes and blood channel designs that closely mimic those found in their natural counterpart. Our small-scale microchannel artificial lungs achieved the highest gas exchange efficiency of any artificial lung to date. Their lifetimes were improved through the application of custom, biocompatible surface coatings. The objectives of the current Merit Review proposal are to: 1) Increase the membrane area and rated flow of our microchannel artificial lung by a factor of 100X; 2) Further increase the biocompatibility of our microchannel artificial lung through nitric oxide release; and, 3) To perform initial gas exchange and lifetime studies in animals. These objectives are critical to advancing this promising technology towards initial acute systems for veteran pulmonary rehabilitation.