MILL - Minimal Invasive Liquid Lung
Aim of the project MILL – “Minimal Invasive Liquid Lung” - is to develop an intravascular membrane catheter for gas exchange in venous blood with an integrated propulsion system. Membrane technology, fluid dynamics and biomedical design methods are applied to develop a device that can be minimal invasively inserted into the vena cava and remove at least 20 % of metabolic CO2 production. As a novelty, liquid perfluorocarbon (PFC) is used to sweep the fiber lumens. Using liquid PFC avoids the risk of gas embolism in case of leakage as PFCs have high CO2 solubility and are used as blood substitutes in clinical applications.
