ECMO, however, has inherent complications such as bleeding due to erythrocyte and platelet damage, thrombosis due to contact activation of the coagulation cascade 159 , arrhythmias, inflammation, and possible infections. It requires multiple transfusions to compensate for blood damage or to avoid hemodilution, especially for premature newborns. As a result, most devices have clinical lifetimes measured in days and a systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) occurs in 60% of ECMO survivors 160 . Additional limitations include ECMO therapy being non-ambulatory, labor-intensive, time-limited, and costly.