How does ecmo work to fix hyaline membrane disease?

It rests the lungs: The premi lung is like an unfinished house. It has no paint on its inside walls.For effective breathing, a liquid called surfactant must form on the walls like paint so the lung can keep its rooms(alveoli) open between breaths.The unfinished walls swell & oxygen can't get thru.Ecmo does the work of breathing until the lungs finish forming.In time the surfactant forms & lungs can begin working

Lung 'rest': Hyaline membrane disease (hmd) or neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (rds) is usually a disease of premature babies which may limit the feasibility of ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) in certain patients. But, if the child is a candidate for and receives ecmo, the lungs are given a period of time to recover while the machine provides oxygen to and clears carbon dioxide from the body.