The Development of a Frugal, Portable, Nonelectronic, and Versatile Oxygenating Perfusion System

This work details the design and characterization of a frugal, portable, nonelectronic, and versatile system that provides oxygenated perfusion across a range of biological applications. That device combined the perfusion pump and oxygenator components into a single embodiment, which reduced the cost and footprint of the device. The performance of the device was evaluated by measuring the perfusion pressures, flow rates, and oxygenation rates that it produced while operating with elements that mimicked vascular resistances of various organs and tissues. Those results showed that the device achieved perfusion parameters used by previous groups to preserve kidneys, livers, hearts, pancreases, and limbs. Since the entire device was operated by a source of pulsatile compressed oxygen, nonelectronic means for controlling that oxygen were explored to further reduce the device's complexity and dependencies. A series of tests were conducted to characterize the scalability of a fluidic oscillator so that one could be designed to perform within the desired range. Those results showed that a fluidic oscillator's oscillation frequency and oscillation angle were directly correlated to the Mach number. Unfortunately, the fluidic oscillators that were manufactured based on those results did not regulate the incoming oxygen into adequate pulses. Thus, pneumatic circuits were implemented, and tests were conducted to compare the performance of the electronic and nonelectronic configurations of the device. The nonelectronic device performed equivalently to the electronic device, ultimately demonstrating that pulsatile, oxygenated perfusion required for the preservation of various tissues can be supplied by a frugal, portable, and nonelectronic system.