This will allow us to titrate the medications used to inhibit the progression of labor. We are very excited about the collaboration with NASA and it is great to have America's best and brightest engineers on our team working hard to solve the problems which we face. As you can imagine, this group of highly trained engineers and scientists is very excited about the possibility of helping sick babies and children who can not help themselves. It is very exciting to see the concept of fetal intensive care progress at such a rapid pace. Only a small proportion of all children with prenatally diagnosed CDH are eligible for prenatal surgery.
Liquid ventilation is as simple as the name implies.
The patient's lungs are filled with a clear, odorless liquid called perflubron. This liquid has an extremely high capacity for carrying oxygen and carbon dioxide. Perflubron helps to distend the small lungs and prevent collapse of the fragile air sacks. Patients will be on a mechanical ventilator or on ECMO support while having their lungs filled with perflubron. There is good preliminary evidence in newborns that, compared to conventional gas ventilation, liquid ventilation increases gas exchange in a more uniform fashion, increases the compliance or elasticity of the lungs and, amazingly, it may promote lung growth postnatally.