Experimental evaluation of a model for oxygen exchange in a pulsating intravascular artificial lung

Intravascular oxygenation and carbon dioxide removal remains a potentially attractive means for respiratory support in patients with acute or chronic respiratory failure. Our group has been developing an intravascular hollow fiber artificial lung that uses a pulsating balloon located within the fiber bundle to augment gas transfer. We previously reported on a simple compartmental model for simulating O2 exchange in pulsating intravascular artificial lungs. In this study we evaluate the O2 exchange model with gas exchange and PO2 measurements performed on an idealized intravascular artificial lung (IIVAL) tested in a water perfusion loop. The IIVAL has well-defined bundle geometry and can be operated in balloon pulsation mode, or a steady perfusion mode for determining the mass transfer correlation required by the model. The O2 exchange rates and compartmental O2 tensions measured with balloon pulsation in the IIVAL are within 10% of model predictions for flow and pulsation conditions relevant to intravascular oxygenation. The experiments confirmed that a significant buildup of PO2 occurs within the fiber bundle, which reduces the O2 exchange rate. The agreement between experiments and predictions suggests that the model captures the cardinal processes dictating gas transfer in pulsating intravascular artificial lungs.