Implantable Bio-Artificial Pancreas (iBAP)

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACTAs of May 25th, 2020, there were over 5.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and around 1.7million in the US, where almost 100,000 deaths have occurred. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)presents secondary to COVID-19 and is primarily treated by mechanical ventilation. Of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients, around 20% will be intubated and mechanically ventilated. Unfortunately, ARDS patients areespecially susceptible to ventilator induced lung injury (VILI) and as many as 80% of intubated COVID-19patients have died. In contrast, ECMO bypasses the lungs, thereby avoiding VILI, and the patient's blood isdirectly oxygenated using an extracorporeal circuit containing a gas-permeable membrane. While ECMO hasshown increased survival relative to mechanical ventilation, the complexity of the ECMO procedure, associatedbleeding and clotting risks, and labor intensiveness has restricted its use. We propose to develop a newoxygenator membrane constructed from silicon nanopore membranes (SNM). The enhanced biocompatibilityand increased gas flux of the SNM will enable the Silicon Membrane Oxygenator (SiMOx) - a compact andpotentially anticoagulation-free ECMO system. The SiMOx will establish a new paradigm of "set it and forget it"blood oxygenation that is characterized by decreased operational complexity, diminished bleeding/clottingrisks, and reduced personnel needs.