A Small Oxygenator for Use with an Organ Perfusion System

An oxygenator which consists of three side-by-side silicone rubber tubes contained in coiled glass tubing is described for use with a small organ perfusion system. The oxygenator has good permeability characteristics for both O
2
and CO
2
with rates of gas transfer which can be varied over a wide range. There was a linear increase in O
2
transfer with increasing perfusate blood-flow rates tested up to 76 ml/min. This represented an O
2
-transfer increment of 0.026-ml O
2
/ml flow. The t
m=1/2
for
14
CO
2
washout was 8.5 min at a flow rate of 76 ml/min.