Working ECMO machine in intensive care department Photo: IC

Supported with rocket technology, China's homegrown extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as the artificial lung/heart system with core parts completely locally developed and a world-class performance, has recently been released. 

State-owned aerospace giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) jointly announced the release of the product, which is expected to dramatically reduce patients' medical expenses with its overall performance and indicators reaching or even better than the international levels of similar products. 

According to the research and development (R&D) group of the product, rocket has a servo system which controls and executes the flying of the rocket through receiving instruction signals and achieve accurate mechanical actions. 

The core parts of rocket servo including motor, magnetic levitation and centrifugal pump are also the key to the R&D of ECMO product. 

During the R&D, the research team took advantage of rocket servo technology and tested the reliability of the long-term operation of the ECMO product with the equipment that is used to test rockets. 

According to the Zheng Si, project commander and director of the 18th Institute of CASC, the team has designed the product with maximized integration, making the product weigh only 7.5 kilograms. It can be used conveniently with such a small size and is portable. 

In the face of the "bottleneck" problem of the key technology in developing domestic high-end medical equipment, the R&D of this product is an important exploration of the combination of medical science and engineering technologies in China. 

Next, the R&D team will continue to promote the localization of ECMO consumables. 

Global Times