Hosam Fathy
University of Maryland, MD·Biomedical Engineering
When a patient's lungs fail, for example from COVID-19, the only current way to oxygenate the blood without the lungs is extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). ECMO pumps blood through an external machine, and it is expensive, scarce and risky for many patients.
- Fields
Biomedical Engineering
Engineering
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
peritoneal oxygenation
third lung
perfluorocarbon
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Develop a multi-functional fiber-optic sensor that measures dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, temperature and pressure in perfluorocarbon liquid circulated through the abdomen.
- Characterize and model the dynamics of gas exchange during peritoneal perfluorocarbon perfusion, the "third lung", using benchtop and animal experiments.
- Design robust multivariable control algorithms that automatically regulate third-lung perfusion to deliver oxygen and remove carbon dioxide in patients with respiratory failure.
- Assess the translation potential of a sensor-based control algorithm that uses flow, pressure and volume measurements to limit occlusion and tissue-damage risks during perfusion, through I-Corps industry interviews.
More about the research
This research develops a "third lung" instead. In this approach, oxygen-rich perfluorocarbon (PFC), an inert liquid that dissolves large amounts of gas, is circulated through the abdominal cavity. Oxygen then diffuses into the bloodstream and carbon dioxide diffuses out. The work combines bioengineering, sensing, control theory and physiology. It has two parts: research on the gas-exchange dynamics and their control, and an effort to assess whether a safety-control system could be turned into a practical technology.
Why it matters
Patients with severe respiratory failure, such as from COVID-19, often cannot get ECMO because it is costly, scarce or too risky for them. An abdominal "third lung" using oxygenated perfluorocarbon could offer another way to support breathing. Automated sensing and safety control could also make other abdominal perfusion treatments safer, including peritoneal dialysis and heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
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University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD·Biomedical Engineering
Characterize how high mechanical shear stress changes neutrophil structure, rolling and adhesion, and surface markers, and quantify how structural damage scales with stress levels found in VADs and ECMO.
Brendan Parent
New York University, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Survey and interview staff from all 56 US Organ Procurement Organizations to document how they request family authorization for organ donation involving normothermic regional perfusion (NRP).
Mohammad Khan
Delaware State University, DE·Engineering
Develop a mid-infrared sensing technique that pairs hollow-core optical fibers with mid-infrared lasers to detect trace gases dissolved in water by how they absorb infrared light.
The school
University of Maryland: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.5B a year on research, 602 research doctorates a year.
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