Cutting Edge

Apollo, IIT Chennai join hands for new Lung Failure Treatment

Dr Paul Ramesh Thangaraj, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Apollo Hospital, Chennai and Prof A Subrahamanyam, Department of Semi-conductor Physics, IIT Madras, have developed a method of splitting the water in the blood into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen thus formed binds to the blood and is delivered to the tissues effectively circumventing the lung. They used thin film technology and developed a nano porous layer of titanium dioxide/indium tin oxide that is only about 50A thick and have used UV light to demonstrate effective oxygenation of human blood for the first time in the world. The experiments were all conducted in vitro under tightly controlled laboratory controls. This technology has the potential for a wide range of applications in space travel, mining, deep sea diving, mountaineering and reducing environmental pollution and global warming.

Current therapy chiefly involves use of the ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO). Ventilators after a point cannot increase the amount of oxygen in the tissues, especially in severely damaged lungs, and can also lead to injury of the lung. While ECMO has several limitations and requires multiple blood transfusions, it is also expensive and is of limited value in adults with respiratory failure. Dr Thangaraj and Prof Subrahamanyam presented their findings at the 53rd Annual Conference of the ASAIO held at Chicago, USA in June 2007, the results of which have appeared in the July 2007 edition of the journal of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs (ASAIO). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has a prevalence of 11.6 and 8.77 per 1,000 in men and women, respectively, and is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide.

EH News Bureau