Development of an air lift pump oxygenator.

The authors devised an air lift pump oxygenator, comprised of double cylinders connected together and filled with perfluorocarbon (FC-75, 3M) as an oxygen carrier. While the oxygen enters the FC-75 through the lower inlet of one cylinder, the oxygenated FC-75 is lifted by an air lift pump and circulates in the two cylinders. FC-75 adds oxygen to the blood that infuses from the lower inlet of the other cylinder. The oxygenated blood is separated from the FC-75 by gravity and infused into the subject. The size of the cylinder is 2.2 cm in internal diameter and 17 cm in effective oxygenation height. The capacity of the oxygenator is 160 ml. PO2 went from 62 mmHg to 96 mmHg and PCO2 decreased from 31 mmHg to 25 mmHg at a blood flow of 50 ml/min and an oxygen flow of 2 L/min. Maximum blood flow was 60 ml/min and the blood reserve capacity was 20 ml/min. The air lift pump oxygenator has advantages, such as simple structure, no motor, and a small priming volume.