Jon Sacker was near death, too sick for doctors to attempt the double lung transplant he so desperately needed. His only chance: An experimental machine that essentially works like dialysis for the lungs.
The device, known as a Hemolung, unfortunately was not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and there were none in the United States where Sacker was being treated. It would take an overnight race into Canada to retrieve a Hemolung. Fortunately for him, he received the device.
Sacker rapidly improved as the device cleansed his blood of carbon dioxide – so much so that in mid-March, 20 days later, he got a transplant after all.
“That machine is a lifesaver,” Sacker said from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Federspiel, the co-founder of ALung Technologies, the company that got the Hemolung to Sacker, said researchers’ ultimate goal is a fully functioning, portable artificial lung.
To read more about this miraculous invention and Sacker’s experience, click here.
The above content was originally derived from: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/2/unapproved-device-buys-time-for-new-pair-of-lungs/?page=2
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