Respiratory diseases are the third largest cause of death in EU, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe condition associated with a mortality rate of above 30%. Currently available treatment options include mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), both associated with high morbidity and mortality. In ECMO, the gas exchange (O2 from sweep gas to blood, CO2 from blood to sweep gas) takes place through large bundles of hollow fiber membranes. As the hollow fibers do not replicate the lung sufficiently, the process has very low efficiency. Therefore, large oxygenators with high numbers of fibers are needed, big blood volumes have to be led outside the body where they come in contact with big artificial surfaces, leading to low hemocompatibility and occurrence of thrombosis and hemolysis.
Research with state-of-the-art methods has so far only led to incremental improvements, indicating that a radically new approach is needed. Among vertebrates, not humans but fish (which breath water) and birds (which respire air) have evolved the most efficient gas exchange (respiratory) organs, which differ from mammalian respiratory system, both in structure at micro- and macro-level, and exchange gas more efficiently.
The overall goal of BioMembrOS is to follow a ground breaking new biomimetic approach and replicate the main characteristics of the most efficient states and processes that have evolved in vertebrates in nature, mainly that of birds and fish, in order to develop a highly efficient bio/hemocompatible membrane structure for intracorporeal artificial respiration and as a platform technology also beyond.
Our aim is to develop membrane structures with radically new geometries and materials, with at least 50% surplus in both O2 and CO2 mass transfer per device unit volume in comparison to the currently available technology. Higher efficiency will mean much smaller, eventually implantable devices, smaller blood volumes needed in the oxygenator and higher hemocompatibility, which will contribute to better treatment with better outcomes and lower incidence of complications for high numbers of patients suffering from severe respiratory diseases.
To reach this goal, four specific objectives were defined:
1) Develop highly efficient bio-/hemocompatible membrane fibers with inner and outer structuring.
2) Develop optimized 3D membrane structures with geometric layout optimized for structural stability, mass transfer (boundary layer control), and hemocompatibility.
3) Develop 3D printed coated membrane structures with increased hemocompatibility and gas permeability from novel polyurethane based material.
4) Validation - benchmark: We will provide validation of the technology developed with our novel biomimetic approach.
