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Without oxygen we die.  In some cases, it is impossible to establish a pathway into the lungs and sometime the lungs are unable to transmit oxygen into the bloodstream.  One solution to such problems has been ECMO or extra-corporeal membrane oxygenators or mechanical lungs that facilitate direct oxygen passage into red blood cells.  Problem is that ECMO machines aren’t portable and require surgical connections to a patient’s bloodstream.

Bioengineers at Boston Children's Hospital now have a more portable approach for directly delivering lifesaving oxygen into a patient’s bloodstream.  Fifteen years of scientific work have led to the development of lipid-coated polymer oxygen microbubbles or LOMs.  Injected directly into the bloodstream, these micro-carriers rapidly dissolve and release microbubbles of oxygen that can be safely absorbed by red cells.  Ample quantities of these LOMs can be stored for emergency use.

Following this successful animal testing, clinical trials are next.  In the future, emergency departments and ambulances may be supplied with containers of these oxygen micro bubble carriers.  When a patient cannot be intubated or when their lungs cannot transmit oxygen, these LOMs could maintain critical oxygenation and save lives.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-microbubbles-safe-emergency-oxygen.html

#oxygen #lipidcoat #microbubbles #ecmo