# Electrochemically Generated Inhaled Nitric Oxide (iNO) delivery via High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC)

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $422,123

## Abstract

"Electrochemically Generated Inhaled Nitric Oxide (iNO) Delivery via High Flow Nasal Cannula
(HFNC)”
Abstract
Patients with COVID-19 or other severe respiratory tract infections often develop acute hypoxemic
respiratory failure. Improving the oxygenation of these patients is critical for improving outcome. As a
selective pulmonary vasodilator, inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) has already become a mainstay of intensive
care units for lung failure to improve oxygenation and it is also a very potent antiseptic agent. Delivering
iNO via a noninvasive high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) method can potentially obviate the need for,
and reduce the risks associated with, invasive mechanical ventilation. We hypothesize that the NO
levels delivered with HFNC reaching the deep lung - where NO has its pharmacological effect - would
be significantly greater and better controlled than NO delivered via low flow nasal cannula. However,
the costs of current iNO technologies are prohibitive for use in high flow inhalation therapy. These costs
are associated with the long-term instability of NO and the limited payload of conventional NO gas
cylinders in which NO must be stored at low concentrations (up to 800 ppm) to prevent disproportion
reactions. We have developed a safe and very cost-effective electrochemical method for on-demand
generation of pure NO from stable solutions of inorganic sodium nitrite for medical applications. We
now propose to combine this novel technology with HFNC delivery and demonstrate the feasibility of
this new technology for safe and inexpensive delivery of iNO to the lungs at therapeutically relevant
levels via a nasal cannula. If successful, this technology can potentially shift the paradigm of iNO
therapy in healthcare settings and could be used to better treat respiratory distress caused by viral or
bacterial infections, such as in COVID-19.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10813711
- **Project number:** 5R01HL168099-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Gergely Lautner
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $422,123
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-04-01 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10813711

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10813711, Electrochemically Generated Inhaled Nitric Oxide (iNO) delivery via High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) (5R01HL168099-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-31 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10813711. Licensed CC0.

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