New artificial lung material reduces clotting
VA Research News Briefs

Image ©iStock/sorbetto
(05/27/2026)
Current artificial lung technology is highly prone to dangerous blood clotting where synthetic material comes into contact with natural tissue. VA Ann Arbor researchers developed a 3D-printable, silicone-based resin that mimics biological conditions to address this problem. When exposed to freshly drawn blood, the new material reduced clotting area over currently available resins by between 58% and 65%. This resin could potentially reduce the need for systemic anticoagulation use with artificial lungs, which carries the risk of severe bleeding events, and could increase the artificial lung device’s lifetime. (Langmuir, May 19, 2026)