Copper Nanoparticle Impregnated, Nitric Oxide Generating Hollow Fibers for Artifi

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More than 190,000 people suffer from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the US each year, with mortality rates from 25-40% with the best treatment. In addition, there are over 12 million patients with chronic lung disease. These patients typically have 1-3 acute exacerbations of their disease state per year that cause additional short term respiratory dysfunction, and over 170,000 of these patients will die every year. Mechanical ventilation is insufficientto support many of these patients. As a result, variou types of artificial lungs are being used to support respiratory function for several weeks. All of the current artificial lungs for these applications use a packed bed of hollow fibers to achieve theirgas exchange. These devices are highly prone to clot formation, causing these devices to fail within 1-2 weeks. Systemic anticoagulation is thus used to reduce clot formation, but this leads to bleeding complications. Thus, all of these applications