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Ann Thorac Surg 2001;72:899-904
© 2001 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
a Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
b Department of Anesthesiology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
c MC3 Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Address reprint requests to Dr Lick, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Route 0528, Galveston, TX 77555-0528
e-mail: slick{at}utmb.edu
Presented at the Poster Session of the Thirty-seventh Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, New Orleans, LA, Jan 2931, 2001.
| Abstract |
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Methods. In 7 sheep, arterial grafts were anastomosed end-to-side to the proximal and distal main pulmonary artery, with the paracorporeal artificial lung interposed. A pulmonary artery snare between anastomoses diverted full pulmonary blood flow through the artificial lung for up to 72 hours.
Results. Six of 7 sheep exhibited good cardiac function throughout the test period: mean central venous pressure was 6.8 mm Hg (range, 4 to 11 mm Hg), mean cardiac output, 4.17 ± 0.12 L/min (range, 2.4 to 6.3 L/min); before and after device mean pulmonary arterial pressure, 21.8 and 18.5 mm Hg, and left atrial pressure, 10.8 mm Hg.
Conclusions. This modified artificial lung prototype with an inflow compliance chamber, blood flow separator, and modified outlet geometry has greatly improved cardiac function and initial survival in our healthy ovine model.
| Introduction |
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Our objective is to develop a paracorporeal artificial lung (AL) to be used as a clinical bridge to transplantation or recovery. For successful application, the patient must be hemodynamically stable, and the AL should provide total gas exchange (O2 and CO2). The device should allow ambulation, and to decrease posttransplantation infection risk, be completely removable at the time of transplantation. To simplify the device, and to avoid the blood trauma of a pump, we prefer the AL be powered by the patients right heart. Finally, the device should be tolerated in series with the pulmonary circulation, to allow for complete gas exchange, and hence must be of ultralow impedence to avoid right heart failure.
We have implanted prototype ALs in a healthy ovine survival model in series with the pulmonary circulation (pulmonary artery-to-pulmonary artery) for up to 7 days of survival [4]. Immediate right heart failure in this initial series, though, was 50%. The resultant AL modifications for this study include an inflow separator and a modification of the outlet geometry, both designed to reduce flow resistance, and an inflow compliance chamber, designed to mimic the compliance of the pulmonary bed. The modified prototype AL achieved total gas exchange with greatly improved cardiac function and survival at 48 to 72 hours in healthy sheep.
| Material and methods |
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Mathematical modeling of an AL attached to the pulmonary circulation shows that adding compliance to the system is the most effective method in lowering the pulmonary inflow impedance [6]. The closer the compliance element to the right heart outflow tract, the more effectively it dampens resultant impedance harmonics. Thus, the MC3 device has an inflow cannula compliance chamber (Fig 2). The compliance chamber consisted of a solvent-casted, polyurethane bulging segment encased in an open-face housing, so that pressure would not be generated external to the chamber. The chamber was passive, accepting the stroke volume by filling the bulging section without significant elastic expansion. The compliant chamber was designed to significantly lower the impedance of the AL, thus decreasing the work of the right ventricle on attachment of the AL to the pulmonary artery (see Appendix). Bench-top experiments, using a mock circuit and pulsatile pump that generates a flow pulse similar to the right ventricle, demonstrated that the compliance chamber decreased the impedance modulus at harmonics 1 through 7 by an average factor of 15 times (Fig 3).
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Our ovine implantation technique [7] and perioperative anesthetic care [8] have been described in detail. All sheep were anticoagulated with continuous intravenous heparin, titrated to keep activated clotting time between 230 and 300 seconds. Seven healthy adult ewes were used for the experiment. Briefly, through a left fourth interspace thoracotomy, 16-mm or 18-mm polyethylene terephthalate fiber arterial grafts bonded to 5/8-inch silicone tubing are anastomosed end of grafttoside of proximal and distal pulmonary artery. The cannulas are connected to the MC3 prototype AL. The long ovine main pulmonary artery, averaging 5.5 cm [9], allows room for a snare between anastomoses. The snare is occluded, diverting full blood flow through the AL. A left atrial pressure catheter is placed, and the wound is closed over a pleural and pericardial drain. A pulmonary artery catheter (Edwards Critical Care, Irvine, CA) placed preoperatively, remains unmanipulated throughout the operative and postoperative period. A custom-made Doppler flow probe (Transonic Inc, Ithaca, NY) is placed on the AL outflow graft. The animals are extubated, returned to their cages, allowed to awaken, and then transferred to the ovine intensive care unit where they are allowed free access to food and water until sacrifice.
The inflow compliance chamber of this series of devices added approximately 6 inches to total length when compared with the first-generation prototype AL. To keep the longer device from contacting the back of the animals cage, we shortened the overall length by exiting the cannulas through a 4-cm second thoracotomy incision with sixth rib resection, rather than tunneling subcostally, as is commonly done with ventricular-assist device cannulas.
| Results |
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Autopsy studies of all 7 sheep showed no evidence of pulmonary emboli. All 48-hour and 72-hour survivors had bilateral lung atelectasis and between 500 mL and 1,000 mL of bloody fluid in the left pleural space, likely from diffuse oozing exacerbated by heparin. No clots were found in the ALs. Two ALs failed to exchange gas after 24 hours, but blood flow and cardiac and pulmonary pressures remained unchanged. These were exchanged for functioning ALs without difficulty.
| Comment |
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Right heart work is highest when an AL is placed in series with the pulmonary circulation [6]. To decrease right heart work, AL design must mimic the high compliance and low resistance of the natural pulmonary circulation. The pulmonary circulation has only one-tenth the capacity of the systemic circulation yet must accommodate the same ejected volume [10]. The pulmonary vessels, which are much shorter than the systemic vessels, accommodate this volume because of thinner walls and greater compliance. Our second-generation AL prototype incorporates three simultaneous changes to decrease right heart work: an inflow separating cone, which improves dispersion of flow, rendering it more uniform across the fiber bundle; an increase in the outlet effective diameter along the fiber bundle axis; and an inflow cannula compliance chamber, which preserves right ventricular pulsatile work, spreading it over time during diastole. The resultant AL modifications therefore reduce resistance and more closely mimic the compliance of the native pulmonary circulation.
An AL may be placed in parallel (pulmonary arterytoleft atrium), or with a combined outflow to both the left atrium and pulmonary artery (hybrid configuration), or in a pure pulmonary arterytopulmonary artery configuration. The in-parallel configuration diverts blood away from the native lungs and toward the left atrium; if a snare is placed on the pulmonary artery distal to the anastomosis, most or all blood is diverted through the AL. If fully snared, this guarantees full gas exchange through the AL, but deprives the pulmonary vascular bed of blood flow. The lungs are the dominant site of processing vasoactive compounds (activation of the vasoconstrictor angiotensin; deactivation of the vasodilators prostaglandin E and bradykinin). Vasodilators are also deactivated, but on the whole the vasoconstricting effect predominates, leading to a drop in blood pressure if blood flow through the lungs is reduced [11]. Moreover, complete exclusion of pulmonary blood flow might predispose to pulmonary bed thrombosis, as has been demonstrated in cardiopulmonary support with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in a failed transplanted heart with minimal cardiac ejection across the pulmonary bed [12].
If the pulmonary artery is unsnared (competitive flow), some pulmonary blood flow is preserved, and right heart work is decreased by the addition of an alternate resistance bed in competition with the native lungs, so that flow through each (lung or AL) is determined by relative impedances. A pulmonary arterytoleft atrium native lung competitive configuration with a prototype similar to the device used in this study (without a compliance chamber) has been used successfully for up to 1 week [13]. Blood flow through the native lungs varied from 10% to 90%, and averaged 47%. The competitive flow configuration would clearly have an advantage in patients with pulmonary hypertension: it would allow a decrease in right heart work. However, the potential drawbacks of this competitive pulmonary arterytoleft atrium configuration are (1) right-to-left microemboli or macroemboli, especially during device change-out; (2) partial gas exchange; and (3) massive right-to-left shunting if the AL must be removed from the circuit and replaced with a loop (eg, when the patient is intolerant of anticoagulation).
The pulmonary arterytoleft atrium configuration also has less bundle flow pulsatility than the pulmonary arterytopulmonary artery configuration. The pulsatility of blood flow through the fiber bundle is of concern for two reasons. First, oxygen transfer is more efficient when blood passes through the fiber bundles in steady rather than pulsatile flow [14]. Second, pulsatility creates periods of high and low shear stress; the low-stress periods predispose to thrombosis [15]. However, a compliance chamber helps to lower bundle flow pulsatility.
Despite these inherent disadvantages of additive resistance beds and increased bundle flow pulsatility, we continue to pursue the in-series configuration because we predict it will have the most long-term clinical utility. Experience with long-term ventricular-assist device support shows that critically ill patients needing mechanical assistance are often intolerant of any anticoagulation for periods of time that can last up to weeks. With an AL in the pulmonary arterytopulmonary artery configuration, the AL could be removed and replaced with a loop connected to each cannula, the anticoagulation stopped, and the native lungs used to support the patient until anticoagulation can be safely restarted. A standby flow loop could not be used in any form of the pulmonary arterytoleft atrium configuration, as it would create massive right-to-left cardiac shunting and hypoxia. Although antithrombotic surface coating will likely be used in a production model of an AL, anticoagulation will still be necessary when an AL is used long term. An AL has inherent problems of less complete washout, more surface area, and a less favorable shear profile [16] compared with a ventricular-assist device.
We are cognizant that the pulmonary arterytopulmonary artery configuration will not be applicable to patients with fixed pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary vascular resistance, though, often is not fixed, but active and variable. Oxygenated blood is a known pulmonary vasodilator, and has been shown effective in an ovine model of acute lung injury [17]. We noticed that initial washout from the AL often led to an acute rise in pulmonary pressures, which reversed within a few minutes after starting oxygen flow through the AL. We have not tried pharmaceutical selective pulmonary vasodilators (nitric oxide, prostaglandin E) in conjunction with an AL.
The MC3 AL has improved through multiple modifications leading to the current prototype. The casings were made by a rapid prototyping technique using polyester resins inside a computer-generated silicone rubber mold. This allowed multiple design iterations and prototype fabrication with ease. However, the necessary biomaterials are not especially durable, and the tolerances are imprecise relative to production membrane oxygenators. In essence, these are hand-built prototypes. Hence, there were multiple device failures requiring change-out in the series. The next step will be creation of a clinical product, using longer-term and more durable (but costly) techniques, and with an anticipated reduced failure rate. Similarly, we have not studied the bloodsurface interactions at this early development stage because the final biomaterials will likely have considerably different characteristics (heparin-bonded or otherwise coated casing and potting; silicone impermeable fibers) and be more blood compatible. At this phase of development, we have focused on feasibility of design, physiologic performance, and initial survival.
Because this modified prototype has greatly improved right heart function, we are optimistic about the clinical future of the AL in series with the pulmonary circulation. We next plan to study the device in our smoke and burn lung injury sheep (lethal dose 50 and lethal dose 100) models of adult respiratory distress syndrome [18] in the pulmonary arterytopulmonary artery configuration. Ultimately, we see the AL used as a bridge to transplant or recovery for patients with relatively normal (or minimally elevated and reversible) pulmonary resistance.
| Appendix |
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(t) are the time-domain pressure and flow profiles, respectively;
and
are the mean pressure and flow magnitudes, respectively; n is an integer corresponding to the harmonic number; N is the total number of harmonics in the series; Pn and
n are the pressure and flow magnitudes, respectively, of the nth harmonic;
n is the frequency at the nth harmonic; t is time; and
n and
n are phase angles of the nth harmonic. The impedance (Zn) is then defined as the ratio of the pressure magnitude to the flow magnitude at each harmonic component, as follows:
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To measure the input impedance of the paracorporeal AL and modified prototype AL with compliant chamber, a mock circuit was constructed at MC3, Inc. to provide the flow and pressure profile that is normally generated by the right ventricle. The circuit consisted of a pulsatile pump [22], two rigid reservoirs, and a centrifugal pump. The test fluid was water at room temperature. The pulsatile pump perfused the test device (ie, prototype AL or modified prototype AL with the compliant chamber). The two reservoirs were used to vary the mean and diastolic pressures, and the centrifugal pump maintained steady water levels between the two reservoirs. The pressure wave at the inlet to the device, which was equivalent to the pulmonary artery pressure profile, was measured with a dynamic pressure transducer (Omega Engineering Inc, Stamford, CT), and the flow wave was measured with an ultrasound transducer (Transonic Systems Inc, Ithaca, NY). The pressure and flow signals were acquired digitally with a data acquisition system (National Instruments, Austin, TX). The digitally acquired signals were processed using a fast Fourier transform algorithm (MathWorks, Natick, MA) to derive the corresponding frequency components of the signals, and the impedance was calculated at each frequency as shown above.
| References |
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