What is the meaning of medical ecmo

ECMO is called Extracorporeal Membrane Lung, a medical emergency equipment, mainly used for patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure, to provide continuous extracorporeal respiration and circulation, in order to maintain the patient's life.The essence of the ECMO is a modified artificial heart-lung machine, the most central part is the membrane lungs and blood pump. The membrane lungs help the patient to fulfill the work of oxygenation and exchange in the lungs, and the blood pump, the artificial heart, replaces the heart to fulfill the role of pumping blood to the pulmonary vessels and the body's circulation.

Development history

Gibbon invented the artificial heart-lung machine in 1953, and used the extracorporeal circulation technology for the first time in clinical cardiac surgery and achieved success, so that the artificial heart-lung machine system for prolonged cardiopulmonary assistance is possible.

Anticoagulation control technology was perfected from 1965 to 1975, which prolonged the continuous use of cardiopulmonary diversion technology in the clinic. Membrane oxygenators separate the patient's blood from oxygenated gases with a semipermeable membrane, which protects red blood cells and platelets and facilitates the safe operation of ECMO for a longer period of time.

Basic principle

When ECMO is in operation, blood is drawn from the vein and oxygenated through the membrane lung to expel carbon dioxide, and the oxygenated blood can be returned to the vein (V-V diversion) or the artery (V-A diversion).