Researchers at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine are leading a federally-backed project to develop a portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and advanced life-support system device.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Johns Hopkins more than $18 million for the two-and-a-half-year initiative. Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Vanderbilt University will also participate in the project.
The goal is to create a portable ECMO device to treat critically injured military personnel in the field. Traditional ECMO machines are typically housed within larger hospitals and require significant resources, making them difficult to deploy in emergency settings.
Researchers also aim to develop new smart features for the device, such as analyzing patients' biological data and adjusting support levels as needed.
While initially intended for military use, researchers noted the project could transform how trauma and lung injuries are treated in clinical settings.
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