Integrated microfluidic oxygenator bundles for blood gas exchange in premature infants

This paper reports the development of a low volume pumpless lung assist device (LAD) composed of a stack of microfluidic single oxygenators units (SOUs) connected in parallel. SOUs are comprised of a microfluidic vascular network (polydimethylsiloxane) and a gas-permeable polycarbonate (PC) membrane to enhance gas exchange between blood and ambient air. We report results from an in vitro test and the first performance test of the LAD in hypoxic newborn piglet in which we show an increase of up to 40% in peripheral oxygen saturation.