Acute respiratory failure is associated with a high mortality rate, despite the advances in
conventional treatments.
This work presents the development of a proof-of-concept device for assessing the viability of an
oxygen-generating catheter, deployed intravenously, to temporarily sustain a patient who is suffering
from acute respiratory failure. The assessment device mimics the interface between the catheter and
bloodstream (deoxygenated water substitutes the blood), and consists of two parallel channels
separated from each other by an oxygen-permeable membrane that simulates the catheter material.
Several polydimethylsiloxane membranes with enhanced permeability were developed and tested on
the device according to their permeation rates.
The highest permeation rate achieved was 3.6×10-7 cm3/s (equivalent in-blood value) considering
the device’s surface area and applied pressure. However, the extrapolation of this value to a catheter
with increased surface area demonstrated a predicted oxygen permeation rate of 1.6×10-3 cm3/s.
Although the oxygen permeation rates achieved here do not yet reach the minimum required rate to
sustain a patient with only 30 % of their lungs functional (1.6 cm3/s O2), it may be enhanced further
by improving certain parameters such as material permeability, surface area and applied pressure.
The ability to administer oxygen or other gases directly into the bloodstream may portray a
technique for short-term rescue of severely hypoxemic patients to increase whole body or at-risk
organ oxygenation
