TPMS-based membrane lung with locally-modified permeabilities for optimal flow distribution

Felix Hesselmann*, Michael Halwes, Patrick Bongartz, Matthias Wessling, Christian Cornelissen, Thomas Schmitz-Rode, Ulrich Steinseifer, Sebastian Victor Jansen, Jutta Arens

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)
81 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Membrane lungs consist of thousands of hollow fiber membranes packed together as a bundle. The devices often suffer from complications because of non-uniform flow through the membrane bundle, including regions of both excessively high flow and stagnant flow. Here, we present a proof-of-concept design for a membrane lung containing a membrane module based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS). By warping the original TPMS geometries, the local permeability within any region of the module could be raised or lowered, allowing for the tailoring of the blood flow distribution through the device. By creating an iterative optimization scheme for determining the distribution of streamwise permeability inside a computational porous domain, the desired form of a lattice of TPMS elements was determined via simulation. This desired form was translated into a computer-aided design (CAD) model for a prototype device. The device was then produced via additive manufacturing in order to test the novel design against an industry-standard predicate device. Flow distribution was verifiably homogenized and residence time reduced, promising a more efficient performance and increased resistance to thrombosis. This work shows the promising extent to which TPMS can serve as a new building block for exchange processes in medical devices.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7160
Number of pages13
JournalScientific reports
Volume12
Issue number1
Early online date3 May 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

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