The Development of Lon-term used Oxygenater

• Project/Area Number: 17K19716
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Surgery related to the biological and sensory functions and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Abe Yusuke 東京大学, 大学院医学系研究科(医学部), 客員研究員 (90193010)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥6,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,500,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥2,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥600,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥3,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥900,000)
• Keywords: 膜型人工肺 / ガス交換 / ECMO / 呼吸補助 / 人工肺 / 体外循環 / 人工臓器 / 生体機能代行装置

Outline of Final Research Achievements

There have been no artificial lungs that have been used clinically without yearly replacement, and there has been no report that the present artificial lungs were implanted in vivo to achieve complete replacement of organs and long-term survival as in a total artificial heart. In order to overcome this current situation, this study proposed a membrane-type artificial lung that can be implanted with a new concept. As a result, although the current technology and the selection of materials used for the artificial lungs were bad, the shape as an artificial lung was obtained, but the performance did not become as expected.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

人工心臓と異なり、人工肺を用いる領域では在宅や院内移動といったQOLの向上を未だに果たすことができない。諸外国においてはV-VECMOなどで肺高血圧症などの患者が院内を多少移動することは可能になったが、国内ではいまだ実施することができていない。一番の課題は人工肺の性能が1990年代からほとんど進化していない点にある。
本研究を始めることで人工肺を必要とする患者が院内でのQOL向上のみならず、将来的に補助人工心臓のように在宅治療が行えるようになれば、状態を維持しつつ肺移植などを待つことができる。