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ECMO

British  

abbreviation

  1. extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: a method of life support used to oxygenate the blood in newborn babies with lung failure, using a machine incorporating membranes that are impermeable to blood but permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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In the Americas, doctors can help infected people by putting them on a life-support machine known as ECMO, for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, which breathes for the patient by oxygenating the blood.

From Los Angeles Times May 4, 2026

He remembers saying good night to them in a call from the hospital just before being connected to ECMO.

From Seattle Times Aug. 28, 2023

Also known as ECMO, it is a last resort, invasive treatment involving a machine that siphons blood out of the patient, runs it through an oxygenator and pumps it back into the body.

From New York Times Oct. 6, 2022

One of our control groups was just the clinical standard, ECMO, in which we just tried to restore the circulation using the animal’s own blood.

From Scientific American Aug. 10, 2022

Doctors put Ginger on ECMO, a form of life support reserved for the sickest patients.

From Salon Aug. 4, 2022

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