| Artificial lungs, also called as oxygenators, which provid cardiopulmonary bypass during open-heart surgery, perform a function of exchanging O2 and removing CO2 from the blood. They also serve as a bridge to lung transplant and a needed appliance for treatment patients with acute respiratory failure. Although extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been successfully used in clinical and commercial application at present, there are still some disadvantages, e.g. inadequate blood transportion; plasma leakage resulting in a decrease of gas exchange and shorter using-age. However, in China, membrane parts of some oxygenators which have been used in clinical application almost rely on importation all.Based on the previous study on silicone rubber membranes, the polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fibers are chosed from some domestic hollow fibers, and silicone rubber/PES hollow fiber composite membranes used as ECMO are prepared by using dip-coat technique. Some coating conditions, such as proportion and concentration of silicone rubber solution and operation temperature, are confirmed by the results of coating experience. In addition, thickness and gas permeation flux of silicone rubber membrane in different concentrations are determined. The results show that the composite membrane prepared by 10% coating solution has better permeation performance for oxygen and is suited for practical require. At the same time, The dense layer of the composite membrane is up to 1μm and its surface is slick and basically full. The in vitro experimental result on the fabricated membrane parts indicated: when the flux of water is 460 ml/min, oxygen transfer rate can be up to 30 ml·min-1·m-2 and pressure drop is 1.5 KPa only. These results will provide some references for other researchers to improve and promote further more usage of ECMO. |
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