Design of polyurethane-based membranes for a novel generation of artificial respiration devices

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving intervention for severe respiratory and cardiac failures, relying on a membrane blood oxygenator (MBO) as its main component. Current MBOs require large membrane surface areas with adequate hemocompatibility, otherwise coagulation issues will arise.

Despite technological progress, there is currently no MBO that supports prolonged ECMO efficiently. This contribution discusses previous research by the Membrane, Chemical, and Electrochemical Processes Group (MemChem) of the Center for Physics and Engineering of Advanced Materials (CeFEMA) on the production of polyurethane-based membranes.

Ongoing and future research carried out within the scope of the Biomimetic Membranes for Organ Support (BioMembrOS) project will also be presented, where we are developing new polyurethane-based membranes that combine improved oxygen and carbon dioxide permeabilities with enhanced hemocompatibility, mechanical strength, and durability.