A tiny lung made of plastic
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, working under the direction of Dr. Pulak Nath, have developed a miniature artificial lung that reproduces the reaction of the human lung to drugs, toxins and other agents.
According to the developers, every day a person takes thousands of breaths. And if we are free to choose the food and drinks we consume, the composition of the inhaled air in most cases goes beyond our control. This is what prompted scientists to develop a miniature lung that will simulate the toxic effect on living lungs of compounds contained in the air.
A device called PuLMo (from the English "Pulmonary Lung Model" – a pulmonal model of the lung) just like a real organ, it consists of two main components: the bronchiolar and alveolar divisions. These departments are made of various polymers and are interconnected by a microfluidic board that ensures the movement of liquid and air flows.
The complete PuLMo artificial lung system is in action.
According to scientists, when developing an artificial lung, they took into account not only the characteristics of various types of cells and lung-forming tissues, but also that the lung should breathe. Therefore, the artificial organ created by them really "breathes".
The developers believe that the most promising application of the PuLMo system is its use for testing the toxicity of experimental drugs and predicting their pharmaceutical effectiveness in human treatment. Thus, PuLMo will reduce the frequency of failures during clinical trials.
Preparation of the PuLMo alveolar block for testing.
In addition, PuLMo can be used to simulate lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma, as well as to study the pulmonary dynamics of air flows, in particular the little-studied effects of electronic cigarettes.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Los Alamos National Laboratory: Tiny plastic lung mimics human pulmonary function.
20.05.2016