A Perspective on the Development and Clinical Application of Oxygenators: Past, Present and Future

Several therapeutic methods need an artificial lung (oxygenator) to replace the natural lung function. For instance in some acute respiratory syndromes, the patient’s lungs are unable to perform their normal function and would need an assistive device to fulfill their performance. Moreover, in open heart surgery, when the heart has stopped pumping, blood is not sent to the lungs, and should be flowed in an extracorporeal circuit. The demand to design a proper oxygenator had begun since more than three centuries ago, and has achieved significant achievements so far. Efforts have been made to promote the performance characteristics of oxygenators by increasing their hemocompatibility, providing larger surface area between blood and gas phases, reducing blood pressure drop between inlet and outlet flow and lowering their priming volume. This article reviews the history, structural and functional properties of oxygenators and provides a wide perspective of their clinical applications for adults, children and neonates. Moreover, techniques used in each prototype, as well as limiting factors are discussed. The state of art oxygenators and future aspects towards implantable oxygenators are also introduced which might be effective in motivating biomedical scientists to conduct their researches in this field.