Membrane oxygenator is a device

Membrane oxygenator - A membrane oxygenator is a device used to add oxygen to and remove carbon dioxide from the blood. It can be used in two main ways: to mimic the function of the lungs in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and oxygenate the blood in maintaining the long-term life, called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, ECMO. A membrane oxygenator is a thin membrane permeable to gases between blood and gas flow in the CPB circuit, oxygen diffuses from the blood gas, and carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the exhaust gases.

History
The history of the oxygenator, or artificial lung, dates back to 1885, with the first demonstration of a disc oxygenator, in which the blood is exposed to the atmosphere on rotating discs by von Frey and Gruber  is a pioneer noted the danger of blood, foam and freezing. In the 1920s and 30s, research in the ongoing development extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Work independently, in the Soviet Union Brukhonenko John Heysham Gibbon and the United States has demonstrated the feasibility of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Brukhonenko with dog lungs using a cutting drum while Gibbon oxygenator type of direct contact, cats infusion up to 25 minutes in 1930

Gibbon praised the pioneering work in May 1953 with the first successful bypass surgery cardiopulmonary . Oxygenator is a type of film strip, where the films exposed to oxygen of the blood as it flows through a series of stainless steel plates.

The disadvantage of direct contact between blood and air were well known, and less traumatic membrane oxygenator has been developed to respond. Membrane artificial lungs first demonstrated in 1955 by a group led by Willem Kolff  and in 1956, the first membrane oxygenator disposable eliminated the need for time to clean before reuse . The patent was filed as Kolff believes that doctors should make technology accessible to all, without thinking about profit. [Citation needed]

The lungs are made early use of relatively impermeable polyethylene or Teflon membrane homogeneous, and it took more than a membrane permeable silicone rubber was introduced in 1960 (and a hollow fiber in 1971) that the oxygenator membrane commercial success  . The introduction of microporous hollow fibers with an extremely low resistance to mass transfer revolutionize the design of the membrane module as a limiting factor in the performance of a blood oxygenator resistance . Latest design of the oxygenator typically use extraluminal flow regime, in which the blood flows from the hollow fiber filled with gas, to support life in the short term, while the homogeneous membrane approved for long term use .