Better help for acute respiratory distress syndrome

Polymer membranes facilitate the exchange of oxygen in the body

Research News /

Acute respiratory distress syndrome requires immediate action. In an emergency situation like this, patients are often ventilated using a heart-lung machine. This involves circulating the blood outside the body, adding oxygen and removing carbon dioxide via membranes. A team of researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP has developed a new kind of membrane structure that allows faster gas exchange in order to make the blood oxygenation easier on patients.