Extracorporeal life support systems: alternative vs. conventional circuits

Emerging technologies and practices for pediatric and neonatal extracorporeal life support (ECLS) are promising. This experiment sought to compare the Medtronic 0800 silicon rubber membrane oxygenator to the Quadrox-iD Pediatric oxygenator in the conventional roller pump circuit, as well as comparing the conventional circuit to an alternative circuit. Three circuits were set up in the experiment. Two conventional roller pump circuits were used to compare the two oxygenators and an alternative circuit consisting of the Quadrox-iD Pediatric oxygenator and Maquet Rotaflow centrifugal pump system was used to identify differences between circuits. All three circuits were primed with Lactated Ringers’ solution and human blood, with an hematocrit of 40%. Testing occurred at flow rates of 250, 500, and 750 ml/ min at 37°C for mean arterial line pressures of 60, 80, and 100 mmHg. The results of the experiment showed lower pressure drops and greater retention of total hemodynamic energy (THE) across the Quadrox-iD ...