A new approach towards extracorporeal gas exchange and first in vitro results

Foivos Leonidas Mouzakis; Ali Kashefi; Jan Spillner; Stephan Rütten; Khosrow Mottaghy; Flutura Hima

doi:10.1515/bmt-2023-0459

Article

A new approach towards extracorporeal gas exchange and first in vitro results

Foivos Leonidas Mouzakis , Ali Kashefi , Jan Spillner , Stephan Rütten , Khosrow Mottaghy and Flutura Hima

Published/Copyright: November 7, 2023

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From the journal Biomedical Engineering / Biomedizinische Technik Volume 69 Issue 3

Abstract

Objectives

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) pertains to therapeutic and prophylactic techniques utilized in a wide range of medical applications, with severe pulmonary diseases being the most prominent cases. Over the past decades, little progress has been made in advancing the basic principles and properties of gas exchangers. Here, in an unconventional approach, dialysis hollow fibers are handled with silicone to create a purely diffusive coating that prevents plasma leakage and promotes gas exchange.

Methods

Commercial dialyzers of varying surface area and fiber diameter have been coated with silicone, to determine the impact of each parameter on performance. The impermeability of the silicone layer has been validated by pressurization and imaging methods. SEM images have revealed a homogeneous silicone film coating the lumen of the capillaries, while fluid dynamic investigations have confirmed its purely diffusive nature.

Results

The hemodynamic behavior and the gas exchange efficiency of the silicone-coated prototypes have been investigated in vitro with porcine blood under various operating conditions. Their performance has been found to be similar to that of a commercial PMP oxygenator.

Conclusions

This novel class of gas exchangers is characterized by high versatility and expeditious manufacturing. Intraoperability between conventional ECLS systems and dialysis machines broadens the range of application infinitely. Ultimately, long-term clinical applicability ought to be determined over in vivo animal investigations.

Keywords: gas exchange; hollow fiber oxygenator; hemodialysis; silicone; polysulfone; diffusion membrane

Corresponding author: Foivos Leonidas Mouzakis, Institute of Physiology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany, E-mail: foivos.mouzakis@rwth-aachen.de

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Sofia-Georgia Kyrisoglou for her contribution to artwork design.

Research ethics: Not applicable.
Informed consent: Not applicable.
Author contributions: Conceptualization: A.K., F.L.M.; methodology: A.K., F.L.M.; formal analysis & investigation: A.K., F.L.M., S.R.; writing - original draft preparation: F.L.M., F.H.; writing - review and editing: F.L.M.; supervision: J.S., K.M. All authors have approved the manuscript and are in agreement with being held accountable for all its aspects.
Competing interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Research funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data availability: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

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Received: 2023-02-19

Accepted: 2023-10-18

Published Online: 2023-11-07

Published in Print: 2024-06-25

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/bmt-2023-0459

Keywords for this article

gas exchange; hollow fiber oxygenator; hemodialysis; silicone; polysulfone; diffusion membrane