ABSTRACT
Oxygenation of blood can be achieved by bubbling oxygen through blood contained in a vessel, which is part of an overall flow system of blood. This process is practiced in the bubble oxygenator. Oxygen literally bubbles through blood retained in the vessel. The advantage of this approach is that the process is simple and the oxygenation is fast and efficient because an oxygen bubble contacts with many red blood cells before it leaves the blood phase. It should be emphasized that the essential step of blood oxygenation is the transfer of oxygen to red blood cells, which differs significantly from oxygenation of liquid, e.g., water. The disadvantage of this approach is that bubbling of oxygen, particularly with large bubbles at a high flow rate, could cause trauma to red blood cells and hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells).
