Assessment of a Microfluidic Intravenous Oxygen Generating Platform to Aid Acute Respiratory Failure

Abstract

Acute respiratory failure is associated with a high mortality rate, despite the advances in conventional treatments. This work presents the development of a proof-of-concept device for assessing the viability of an oxygen-generating catheter, deployed intravenously, to temporarily sustain a patient who is suffering from acute respiratory failure. The assessment device mimics the interface between the catheter and bloodstream (deoxygenated water substitutes the blood), and consists of two parallel channels separated from each other by an oxygen-permeable membrane that simulates the catheter material. Several polydimethylsiloxane membranes with enhanced permeability were developed and tested on the device according to their permeation rates. The highest permeation rate achieved was 3.6×10-7 cm3/s (equivalent in-blood value) considering the device’s surface area and applied pressure. However, the extrapolation of this value to a catheter with increased surface area demonstrated a predicted oxygen permeation rate of 1.6×10-3 cm3/s. Although the oxygen permeation rates achieved here do not yet reach the minimum required rate to sustain a patient with only 30 % of their lungs functional (1.6 cm3/s O2), it may be enhanced further by improving certain parameters such as material permeability, surface area and applied pressure. The ability to administer oxygen or other gases directly into the bloodstream may portray a technique for short-term rescue of severely hypoxemic patients to increase whole body or at-risk organ oxygenation.