Key points from article :
Usual treatment is a large machine that pumps their blood through a gas exchanger to provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Artificial lungs have proven harder than making a mechanical heart.
Lungs contain a fabulously convoluted network of branching air sacs to allow gases to diffuse in and out of the blood.
One device is small and light enough to be carried in a backpack – but still needs a gas cylinder.
Another device under development runs off the air in a room using extremely thin channels formed by polymer membranes.
