Patients preparing for a lung transplant often end up bedridden for extended periods of time while awaiting surgery. Because poorly functioning lungs have to be continuously assisted by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machines, mobility for the patient flies out the window. This is not only a matter of great discomfort, but lack of movement prior to surgery contributes to worse outcomes for patients that should really be ambulatory instead.
Now a collaboration of researchers headed by a team from University of Pittsburgh is developing an artificial lung and blood pump that is small and light enough to wear for up to three months.
Our wearable lung will be designed to get patients up and moving within the hospital setting, which is important for both patient recovery and improving a patient’s status prior to a lung transplant,” said principal investigator William J. Federspiel, William Kepler Whiteford Professor of Bioengineering in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering and director of the Medical Devices Laboratory within the Pitt-UPMC McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
see more info on this wearable lung
amazing progress in a replacement lung. I have severve emphysema and I hope i last long enough to get one of these.
ReplyDelete