A treatment used as a "last resort" for severe cases of COVID-19 could soon reach capacity as hospitals nationwide strain to meet the demands of a growing domestic outbreak.
In Japan, 24 patients with severe infections have been treated or continue to be treated using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, a resource intensive but cutting-edge machine used occasionally to remedy serious lung and heart problems.
There are upwards of 1,300 ECMO machines available in the country, according to a survey released in March by the Japanese Society of Respiratory Care Medicine and the Japan Association of Clinical Engineers.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.