Kenya, February 02, 2026 - In a groundbreaking surgical achievement, doctors successfully kept a critically ill patient alive for 48 hours without natural lungs by using a custom-engineered artificial lung system, allowing time for a life-saving double lung transplant to be performed, according to a study published this week in the journal Med.
This marks a significant advance in the treatment of severe respiratory failure and could transform care for patients otherwise considered beyond medical help.
The patient, a 33-year-old man admitted with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) triggered by influenza B and complicated by a severe, drug-resistant Pseudomonas bacterial infection, rapidly deteriorated despite ventilator support. His lungs filled with pus, and he went into sepsis, kidney failure and cardiac arrest before the surgical team intervened.
Faced with lungs that were irreversibly damaged, thoracic surgeon Dr. Ankit Bharat and his team at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine made the unprecedented decision to remove both lungs, a procedure called a bilateral pneumonectomy, to halt the relentless infection.
Typically, losing both lungs is fatal because the body has no mechanism to oxygenate blood or sustain circulation, and conventional devices like ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) cannot fully replace the lungs’ role in maintaining normal blood flow to the heart.
To overcome this, the team developed a flow-adaptive extracorporeal total artificial lung (TAL) system, a complex engineered circuit that not only oxygenated the patient’s blood and removed carbon dioxide, but also maintained stable blood flow through the heart, a crucial innovation that distinguishes it from existing life-support machines.
Key features of the TAL system included:
- A dual-lumen cannula that pulled deoxygenated blood from the heart and delivered it into the artificial oxygenator.
- A flow-adaptive shunt that protected the heart from dangerous pressure build-ups.
- Dual return lines ensuring oxygenated blood re-entered the heart reliably.
- Tissue-based supports to stabilize the heart in the empty chest cavity created by the lung removal.
Once the artificial lung system was activated, the patient’s condition improved remarkably. Within hours, his blood pressure stabilised, kidney function returned, and he no longer needed medication to support his heart, all signs of his body responding to the temporary respiratory support.
After 48 hours, a suitable donor became available, and surgeons performed a successful double lung transplant.
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Two years after the procedure, the patient continues to live with normal lung function, showing no signs of organ rejection or long-term complications, a testament to both the surgical approach and the TAL system’s effectiveness.
Medical experts say this achievement could redefine how hospitals treat patients with severe lung failure, particularly those whose lungs are so damaged that conventional support systems are insufficient.
Dr. Natasha Rogers, a transplant clinician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, described the engineering behind the artificial lung as “remarkable,” while cautioning that deploying such systems requires highly specialised teams and facilities currently available only in a few advanced medical centers.
The case also provides new biological insight into irreversible lung damage. Molecular analysis of the removed lung tissue showed extensive destruction of normal lung architecture and the absence of regenerative capacity, underscoring why traditional supportive therapies would likely have failed without a transplant.
Although this artificial lung system represents a major breakthrough, experts emphasise that its routine application is still some way off.
The complexity of the device and the need for specialised surgical teams mean that most hospitals, even well-resourced ones, currently lack the capacity to replicate it.
However, the study opens the door for innovations in respiratory support and may inspire future medical technologies for patients awaiting organ transplants or facing terminal lung failure.

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