Long before the COVID pandemic, Dr. Takanori Takebe knew how damaging mechanical ventilators could be. He had seen them used on his father, who has had respiratory problems. It was so painful and invasive that Takebe, a doctor and biomedical researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital also affiliated with several institutions in Japan, decided to look for better ways. This year, he and his colleagues published the results of a clinical trial that demonstrates the first step in a surprising solution: enteral ventilation.
Lungs are only one way to get oxygen into the blood; other organs, while not specialized at the task, can still provide a way in. In Takebe’s trial, which came after years of animal testing and was to assess safety in humans, people received infusions of an oxygen-carrying substance called perfluorodecalin via their anuses. Side effects were minimal, and the scientists concluded that perfluorodecalin was a promising substance deserving further study. The next step? Seeing whether the fluid can raise the blood oxygen levels of subjects in controlled experiments.
“My dad is very excited about that,” says Takebe. “He would like to volunteer.”