Harman Patil (Editor)

Biolung

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A biolung is a device designed to fully support the respiratory needs of adult patients as a bridge to lung transportation or lung recovery. The lung is used for carrying both the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Some types of chronic disease that affect the lungs are pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema.

Operation

The artificial lung uses tiny hollow fibres to mimic the structure of a human lung, and increase the surface area available for oxygen to pass into the blood. About the size of a soda can, the device is connected to the heart's right ventricle. It relies on the heart, not a mechanical pump, to send blood through the lung, where it receives oxygen (and offloads carbon dioxide) as it flows through arrays of microfibers, or membrane oxygenators. Oxygen rich blood passes from the device into the left atrium and then to the rest of the body.

An implantable lung could keep patients with serious lung diseases alive long enough for them to beat potentially deadly infections. The resulting device could be small enough to allow implantation into the body, where it would be attached to the pulmonary artery, the main blood vessel from the heart to the lungs. From here, the heart's own pumping power would drive blood through it.

References

Biolung Wikipedia