Mathematical modeling of extracorporeal CO removal therapy : A validation carried out on ten pigs.

The extracorporeal CO removal device (ECCORD) is used in clinics to treat patients suffering from respiratory failures like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this device is to decarboxylate blood externally with low blood flow. A mathematical model is proposed to describe protective ventilation, ARDS, and an extracorporeal CO removal therapy (ECCORT). The simulations are compared with experimental data carried out on ten pigs. The results show a good agreement between the mathematical simulations and the experimental data, which provides a nice validation of the model. This model is thus able to predict the decrease of PCO during ECCORT for different blood flows across the extracorporeal lung support.