Bhubaneswar, Aug 25: Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) service will start functioning at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack from August 27, said Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET), Dr. CBK Mohanty on Wednesday.

Mohanty said as many as 9 ECMO machines will be made available here for the treatment of critical Covid-19 patients. The SCB ECMO unit will be the biggest unit in Eastern India, said Mohanty.

ECMO is the only device to treat critical Corona patients with acute liver damage. However, the ICMO treatment facility was not available in the state.

As a result, critical Corona patients from Odisha were depending on Hyderabad and Chennai for the expensive procedure. ECMO treatment in the state will ease Corona care and check the Covid-19 related death rate, added Mohanty.