Oxygenation-ozonation of blood during extracorporeal circulation: In vitro efficiency of a new gas exchange device

We have investigated the performance of a new gas exchange device (GED), named L001, specifically devised for the ozonation of human blood during extracorporeal circulation. This procedure, defined with the acronym '' EBOO,'' means '' extracorporeal blood oxygenation-ozonation.'' The innovative GED is made of microporous, ozone-resistant, polipropylene hollow fibers with an external diameter of 200 mu m, a thickness of 50 mu m, and a membrane surface area of 0.22 m(2). The material is coated with phosphorylcholine on the external side in contact with the circulating blood, while a gas mixture, necessarily composed of medical oxygen and ozone (about 99 and 1%, respectively), flows inside the fibers in opposite direction. The new GED has been tested by using a buffered saline solution containing KI and by varying several parameters, and it has shown to be very versatile and efficient. Its main characteristics are minimal foreign surface contact, high gas transfer, and negligible priming volume. This device appears to be a practical, nontoxic, and rather inexpensive tool for performing ozonation of blood for already defined human diseases.