Polish scientists have obtained a U.S. patent for a new blood oxygenator technology that they say could expand the future possibilities of extracorporeal blood oxygenation and address some of the limitations of current ECMO systems.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted patent protection in mid-May for the device, known as OXIFlame, according to the Silesian Medical University in Katowice. The invention was previously filed under the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) procedure, with priority based on applications submitted in Poland in 2020.
The patented technology concerns extracorporeal blood gas exchange, a process used to oxygenate blood and remove carbon dioxide outside the body in critically ill patients. According to its developers, OXIFlame introduces a new oxygenator architecture based on an organic membrane, departing from designs used in conventional ECMO oxygenators.
"Obtaining patent protection in the United States is a significant step in the internationalisation of the results of research conducted at the Medical University of Silesia and confirms the high implementation potential of the biomedical technologies being developed," says Professor Szymon Skoczyński, a co-inventor of the technology from the Silesian Medical University.
He added that the patent protection "increases the possibilities of commercialising the solution internationally and opens the way to further collaboration with industrial and medical partners".
The device is being developed for potential use in intensive care, cardiac surgery and future extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems.
ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, is used in patients with severe but potentially reversible respiratory or circulatory failure. The technology temporarily takes over the function of the lungs, heart or both while underlying conditions are treated.
According to the project's developers, existing ECMO systems face several limitations, including the risk of thrombotic complications and challenges related to the biocompatibility of materials that come into contact with blood. As a result, ECMO is generally reserved for the most critically ill patients.
The OXIFlame project, whose name stands for Oxygen Increased Flow Advanced Membrane, aims to address some of these issues through materials with modified surface structures designed to reduce clot formation and improve interaction with blood.
According to the inventors, the membrane material is intended to mimic certain properties of biological blood vessel walls, including the ability to interact with flowing blood and locally bind anticoagulants.
The technology has not yet reached clinical use. Its developers said further research and development will be required before any potential implementation in patients.
The OXIFlame project was previously recognised in the sixth Start-Up-Med Competition during the ninth Health Challenges Congress in Katowice.
The researchers said that while next-generation oxygenators could broaden the future use of extracorporeal blood oxygenation, ECMO currently remains a highly specialised procedure used only for strictly defined clinical indications in intensive care settings. (PAP)
PAP - Science in Poland
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