PIs: William Federspiel, PhD

Co-PIs: Alan Russell, PhD and William Wagner, PhD

Title: Percutaneous Respiratory Assist Catheter

Description: Each year several hundred thousand Americans suffer short term lung failure requiring respiratory support within the intensive care unit. The objective of this proposal is to develop a percutaneous respiratory assist catheter (PRAC) that can be inserted into the venous system to provide supplemental breathing support, independent of the lungs, for patients requiring short-term (~ 4-7 day) respiratory assistance.

The PRAC will be designed for percutaneous insertion into a peripheral vein and placement in the central venous system, where it will be exposed to all the blood returning to the heart. The PRAC will use a rotating impeller within the fiber bundle to generate active mixing of blood to enhance gas exchange. We will also develop novel hollow fiber membranes that incorporate immobilized enzymes that will further accelerate CO2 removal.

The target is a percutaneous assist catheter (20-25 Fr or smaller) that can provide 90-120 ml/min of CO2 removal when used as an adjuvant or replacement to existing therapy for patients with acute lung failure (ARDS, pneumonia) or acute on chronic lung failure (COPD with exacerbation).

Source: NIH

Term: 07/08/08 – 05/31/12 (this award); 04/01/02 – 05/31/12 (entire project)

Amount: $1,350,174 (this award); $2,798,136 (entire project)