Development of a new silicone membrane oxygenator for ECMO.

Two types small and efficient ECMO oxygenators were developed utilizing the most up to date hollow fiber technology. Newly silicone hollow fibers possess sufficient mechanical strength while maintaining ultra thin walls of 50 micro meter. Two types of oxygenators were made with this fiber. The fiber length for the type 1 module is 150mm with a priming volume 194 cc (surface area 1.3 m(2)) and type 2 has a fiber length of 100 mm with a 144 cc priming volume (the surface area 0.8 m(2)). The studies were performed at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 L/min of blood flow and these oxygenators demonstrated. O(2) gas transfer rate of 69+/-4 ml/min/L for type 1 and 68+/-6 ml/min/L for type 2. The CO(2) gas transfer rate was 25+/-2 ml/min/L for type 1 and 32+/-2 ml/min/L for type 2. These results demonstrate type 2 oxygenator has similar gas exchange capabilities to those of Kolobows' oxygenator which has about 2.0 times larger surface area. Additionally, comparative hemolysis tests were preformed with this new oxygenator and the Kolbow. The NIH value was 0.006 (g/100 L) for the type 1 oxygenator and 0.01 (g/100 L) for the Kolbow oxygenator. These results suggested that this ECMO oxygenator had sufficient gas exchange performance in spite of being smaller and induced minimal blood damage.