Bio-inspired, efficient, artificial lung employing air as the ventilating gas

TLDR

Artificial lungs are increasingly used to treat lung disease, yet improvements in gas exchange, biocompatibility, and portability are needed to unlock their full clinical potential. The study aims to develop a small‑scale, microfabricated artificial lung that, through new mathematical modeling and a bio‑inspired design, achieves high oxygen exchange efficiencies enabling air as the ventilating gas. The device employs microfabricated structures modeled mathematically to mimic natural lung architecture, producing oxygen exchange efficiencies far exceeding current artificial lungs. The resulting system eliminates the need for pure oxygen, achieves natural‑lung‑like feature sizes and structure, and marks a major advance toward fully portable, implantable artificial lungs for ambulatory care.

Abstract

Artificial lungs have recently been utilized to rehabilitate patients suffering from lung diseases. However, significant advances in gas exchange, biocompatibility, and portability are required to realize their full clinical potential. Here, we have focused on the issues of gas exchange and portability and report a small-scale, microfabricated artificial lung that uses new mathematical modeling and a bio-inspired design to achieve oxygen exchange efficiencies much larger than current devices, thereby enabling air to be utilized as the ventilating gas. This advancement eliminates the need for pure oxygen required by conventional artificial lung systems and is achieved through a device with feature sizes and structure similar to that in the natural lung. This advancement represents a significant step towards creating the first truly portable and implantable artificial lung systems for the ambulatory care of patients suffering from lung diseases.