Hybrid additive manufacturing-based assembly of sacrificial isomalt scaffolds and gas exchange membranes for microfluidic artificial lung development (opens in new tab)

Preterm neonates are susceptible to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) due to their underdeveloped lungs and require mechanical ventilation. Microfluidic blood oxygenators (MBOs) are a suitable alternative due to their small priming volume and their potential to reduce iatrogenic effects of ventilation. Current MBOs use lithographic fabrication that limits their manufacturability due to scalability and integration issues. Additive-manufacturing has been recently explored to overcome fabricat...