Prototyping of a catheter Pump for the minimally invasive liquid Lung Catheter

Patients with severe forms of respiratory failure frequently require mechanical ventilation and membrane oxygenation therapy to support  their  lung function. An intravenous membrane oxygenator, consisting of a hollow  fiber membrane packing and a drive unit, is proposed as a minimal invasive respiratory assist device.The usage of a blood pump deals with major challenges in  the design of an intravenous device, specifically overcoming the pressure drop caused by the membrane packing and enabling a controllable blood  flow. Apart  from  the complex design, pump production for experimental investigation poses a difficulty due to the small size of the individual pump parts.In this study, we demonstrate the rapid prototyping process of a micro mixed flow catheter pump using different lithographic based approaches. Pump characteristic experiments were  conducted, showing the functionality of the manufactured parts.