Extracorporeal membrane oxygenators with light-diffusing fibers for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning: Experiments, mathematical modeling, and performance assessment with unit cells.

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Approximately 50,000 emergency department visits per year due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning occur in the United States alone. Tissue hypoxia can occur at very low CO concentration exposures because CO binds with a 250-fold higher affinity than oxygen to hemoglobin. The most effective therapy is 100% hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) respiration.