ABOUT ECMO

ECMO: Drastic, Risky, yet Lifesaving

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, or ECMO, supports the function of the heart and lungs in critically ill patients. In ECMO, a patient’s blood is pumped out of the body, through a blood oxygenator, and back into the body. The oxygenator works as an artificial lung, exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Conventional oxygenators are assembled from many plastic components. The patient’s blood is exposed to a large foreign surface area and to non-physiological flow patterns, causing inflammation and damage to the blood. Eventually, blood clots inside the device, and it must be replaced.

Replacing an oxygenator increases the risk of embolism and infection. Patients that can get off ECMO before their oxygenator clots have much better outcomes. There is a clinical need for a more blood-compatible, clot-resistant oxygenator.

$15B

in annual costs to the healthcare system.

ECMO is the most intensive intervention used in critical care. Patients must be continuously monitored for complications related to bleeding and clotting. This high level of care costs payers as much as $40,000 per day. After patients are weaned off ECMO, it then takes weeks recover in intensive care.

13,000+

ECMO runs per year in the US.

When a patient’s heart or lungs are too sick to support life, ECMO bridges them to recovery or transplant. Premature infants, whose lungs are not yet functional, can be saved by going on ECMO until their lungs mature. Patients with severe COVID can survive while their body fights off the infection by going on ECMO. ECMO can be used to resuscitate heart attack victims and support heart function as their heart heals.

ECMO: Drastic, Risky, and Lifesaving

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Reduced Hemolysis

In conventional devices, blood flows around the outside of bundled hollow fibers. In the OptiLung, as in the body, blood flows through the inside of carefully architected vasculature networks. This allows us much greater control over the pressure, flow rate, and shear throughout the device. The result is a product that is more efficient and gentler on the blood, reducing the risk of hemolysis.

Reduced clotting

Due to manufacturing constraints, conventional devices inevitably have regions of stagnant blood flow. Stagnation is a major contributor to clotting, and hollow-fiber oxygenators are known to clot faster at low flow rates. The OptiLung uses a branching manifold, reminiscent of the vascular networks in lungs or gills, to completely eliminate stagnation inside the device and allow operation over a wider range of flow rates.

A more reliable product

The OptiLung device is a single part, made of a single material, in an almost entirely automated process. We eliminate the manual assembly steps in conventional oxygenator manufacturing, allowing us to make a product that is both more performant and more consistent. We are also immune to some of the supply chain issues that affect oxygenators based on polymethylpentene fibers.

Reduced Hemolysis

Reduced clotting

A more reliable product

our story

A team of physicians and engineers, dedicated to bringing technology out of the lab and into the clinic.

Healthcare practitioners, funding agencies, and academic labs are acutely aware of the need for innovation in ECMO. Support for research in this space is higher than it is ever been. The ECMO clinical community is incredibly receptive to new devices and approaches – if it helps patients, they will figure out how to integrate it into their workflow.

OptiLung was founded to bridge the gap between invention and commercialization in ECMO. We leverage entrepreneurial experience and domain expertise in additive manufacturing of medical devices. We believe blood oxygenation is a killer application in this space, and we’re excited about bringing it to the bedside.

Join us in making ECMO safer than ever.

If you are an engineer, physician, or investor interested in supporting our mission, please reach out.

If you are an investigator and want to try our oxygenator in an animal model, we would love to work with you.

Prefer email? Send us a note directly at info@opti-lung.com.

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Affiliated with leading innovation partners

Southwest Pediatric
Device Consortium

Texas Medical Center Innovation
Accelerator

OptiLung is creating the new standard for blood oxygenators.

ABOUT ECMO

ECMO: Drastic, Risky, yet Lifesaving

$15B

in annual costs to the healthcare system.

13,000+

ECMO runs per year in the US.

ECMO: Drastic, Risky, and Lifesaving

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Engineered for optimal performance.

Reduced Hemolysis

Reduced clotting

A more reliable product

Blood-gas exchange at any scale.

Who it will impact

Patients

Clinicians

Hospitals

A team of physicians and engineers, dedicated to bringing technology out of the lab and into the clinic.

Join us in making ECMO safer than ever.

Affiliated with leading innovation partners