An Innovative Technique For Extracorporeal Carbon Dioxide Removal Featuring An Electrodialysis Unit: An In-Vitro Experiment

Acidification of blood entering the membrane lung (ML) converts bicarbonate ions into dissolved gaseous CO2, increasing the pCO2 transmembrane gradient and thus the extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R) [1]. Extracorporeal blood acidification has previously been achieved by infusion of lactic acid, which proved to be effective in rising ECCO2R but determined a mild increase of total CO2 production and induced a slight degree of metabolic acidosis [2], thus limiting the overall effectiveness of such treatment.