Scientists at the VA Ann Arbor Health Care System in Michigan are developing a 3D printed artificial lung that could help treat veterans affected by lung disease. Biomedical engineer Dr. Joseph Potkay is leading the research focusing on patients who have a buildup of CO2 in their blood, which often applies to veterans with end-stage COPD.

Joseph Potkay and his team are working with high-resolution Additive Manufacturing company Old World Labs to create a prototype of the 3D printed artificial lung, which will be about a half-inch cube in size, hopefully, able to fit in a backpack and be used for a week; however, after further development, the hope is to get the lung to work for longer amounts of time.

The goal behind the VA research is to create the first truly wearable artificial lung that’s compatible with living tissue and can provide both short- and long-term respiratory support, and microfluidic artificial lungs also use far less blood than current commercial devices.

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