In cases of severe lung failure, long term extracorporeal membrane oxygenation has become a relevant treatment option in the ICU. With the availability of small and long term stable oxygenation circuits and dedicated drive units, it is now possible to apply ECLA in the intensive care unit on a routine basis. However, when comparing with the operating theater, were supervision and optimal setting of an extracorporeal circulation requires permanent attention of a specially trained cardio-technician/perfusionist the situation in the ICU less satisfactory. Machine operation is limited to less frequent care intervals or reaction to machine alarms. In order to provide similar levels of control performance, reliability and safety, ICU devices should provide advanced autonomous functions. In our interdisciplinary project SmartECLA we developed patient oriented control strategies to address this issue. Other project partners focused on dedicated safety mechanisms.