Design of Control Strategies for the CO2 Removal from Blood with an Intracorporeal Membrane Device

Currently, available blood CO2 control systems mostly interact with blood extracorporeally, though guiding large blood quantities out of the body is problematic and frequently causes severe complications. Here we propose a set of strategies and a method to control CO2 removal and CO2 concentration change in blood in an intracorporeal membrane based respiratory assistive device using a liquid sweep fluid. Control objectives are defined and concept designs are presented for the respective control loops based on measurement of accessible sensor signals and rotational speed of the blood pump as control variable. The results of this study may contribute to the development of safe and easily controllable CO2 removal systems in patients suffering from respiratory insufficiency.