It is different from a heart-lung machine in that it is external and designed to take over the functions of the lungs for long periods of time rather than on a temporary basis.
Mechanical Ventilation (MV) has also been used, however, it is damaging to the patient's lungs if used for extended periods of time.
Both these therapies are expensive and are associated with poor quality of life, in part due to complex blood circuits required for these techniques to work.
Recent developments include simplifying the ECMO system, and devices that use 380 micron wide hollow fibers to simulate the function of alveoli have been developed.
[2][3][4] This article related to medical equipment is a stub.