Bridge to Life: The Lifebridge B2T® extracorporeal life support system in an in vitro trial

Abstract

Extracorporeal life support systems (ECLS) have become common in cardiothoracic surgery, but are still "Terra Incognita" in other medical fields due to the fact that perfusion units are normally bound to cardiothoracic centres. The Lifebridge B2T is an ECLS that is meant to be used as an easy and fast-track extracorporeal cardiac support to provide short-term perfusion for the transport of a patient to a specialized centre. With the Lifebridge B2T it is now possible to provide extracorporeal bypass for patients in hospitals without a perfusion unit. The Lifebridge B2T was tested on three calves to analyze the handling, performance and security of this system. The Lifebridge B2T safely can be used clinically and can provide full extracorporeal support for patients in cardiac or pulmonary failure. Flows up to 3.9 +/- 0.2l/min were reached, with an inflow pressure of -103 +/- 13mmHg, using a 21Fr. BioMedicus (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) venous cannula. The "Plug and Play" philosophy, with semi-automatic priming, integrated check-list, a long battery time of over two hours and instinctively designed user interface, makes this device very interesting for units with high-risk interventions, such as catheterisation labs. If a system is necessary in an emergency unit, the Lifebridge can provide a high security level, even in centres not acquainted with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: An Introduction for Emergency Medicine Physicians

“…If distal perfusion of the leg with arterial cannulation is compromised, a second, smaller arterial catheter may need to be placed in the distal femoral artery to separately perfuse the leg. Cannulation of the patient is usually initiated by a cardiovascular surgeon, but has also been initiated by the emergency physicians percutaneously placing cannulas using the Seldinger technique (15)(16)(17)(18).…”

Percutaneous Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Clinical Uses, Future Applications, and Anesthetic Considerations

“…New devices on the horizon include the LIFEBRIDGE system (Medizintechnik GmbH, Ampfing, Germany), which is a portable, modular, rapidly available mechanical circulatory support that could be used for short-term peripheral CPB for acute cardiopulmonary failure or as a bridge to procedure for highrisk PCI (Fig 3). [41][42][43] The system has achieved CE certification, and the clinical introduction of the system has started in Europe. 43 Although the LIFEBRIDGE is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, there are numerous theoretic and practical advantages over all other systems discussed previously.…”

“…The device is capable of providing full cardiopulmonary support with flows up to 6 L/min (4.1 L/min if peripheral cannulation) and adequate gas exchange. 41,42 The unique characteristics of this device would make it ideal for full cardiopulmonary support in the catheterization laboratory, for transport, and even as an alternative to the standard CPB machine used for cardiac surgery. Anesthesiologists will be seeing more of this technology, stretching the limits of minimally invasive procedures and support.…”

Feasibility of initiating extracorporeal life support during mechanical chest compression CPR: A porcine pilot study

“…15,16 This raises the possibility that ECLS could be started more quickly in the emergency department, and potentially in the prehospital setting, which might greatly reduce the time from collapse to initiation of ECLS and thereby increase the effectiveness of the intervention. One case report utilized mechanical chest compression for 1.5 hours as a bridge to starting cardiopulmonary bypass for a profoundly hypothermic cardiac arrest patient.…”