Chinese medical staff recently conducted a successful extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) placement for a critically ill COVID-19 patient in the outbreak epicenter of Wuhan.

In the treatment of critically ill patients suffering from lung failure, the ECMO works as an artificial lung that can "replace" a patient's lungs seriously damaged by the virus, providing continuous extracorporeal breathing and circulation so as to buy time for further treatment.

Due to the severe health condition of the Wuhan patient, medication was also adjusted with extreme precision.

It took four hours for the medical staff to finish the complex procedure, after which they received positive monitoring results.