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Protein Gel Quickly Stops Bleeding
Stefan vd Linden writes, "An international team of scientists has discovered a substance to heal bleeding wounds within seconds. They're using a solution of protein molecules that self-organizes into a biodegradable gel. Until now they've only tested it on animals, but the tests were highly successful. From the article: 'Some surgeons are already excited about the material. "I see great potential in the eye field, the gastro-intestinal field, and in neurosurgery," says Dimitri Azar, head of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US. "In the eye, even a drop of blood will blur your vision for a long time," Azar adds. "A material that would stop the bleeding could lead to a paradigm shift in how we practice surgery in the eye."'"
It's called platelets. It was invented long ago. Thank goodness, or I would have died the first time my nose bled...
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I make my own protein gel.
An alternative to ingesting krazy glue!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
this would be great... if I cut myself shaving its a real pain in the ass... I have to doctor myself for a good hour to get some litle nicks to stop. My shots to stop bleeding cost around 1,000 bucks a pop, so its not like I can just give myself a shot for a minor nick - granted this won't help with joint bleeds, but hey, as long as they don't charge an arm and a leg for the stuff, i'll be happy.
Now if I could just rub it on the skin to stop joint and muscle bleeds... wow... a gift from heaven?
It's called platelets. It was invented long ago. Thank goodness, or I would have died the first time my nose bled...
Platelets are fine for small wounds, but they don't do much for larger than a small cut. For external cuts I usually stick it together with a little superglue. I don't expect this will be over the counter though..
in case of massive fragging mix contents with one cup of tea and drink really fast!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Well, unless my Google search fails me (no, I'm not a native English speaker, and I didn't know what platelets are), platelets are cells. As such, calling them "protein gel" is quite a stretch, since there happens to be more than proteins inside them. Besides, the idea is to stop bleeding quickly, and platelets aren't that fast.
This reminds me of when I was watching the cannon run on the Edinburgh tattoo a few years ago. One of the soldiers got hit on his head (#1 haircut), and cut quite badly. A medic ran out with a thing that looked like a staple gun, sprayed it with 'numbing spray', stapled the wound closed with about three staples, then wiped some kind of gel/wax on it. The guy looked a little sore, but he wasn't bleeding and his wound was closed enough that he could carry on. - all in about 10 seconds.
But they do have them. The real problem in hemophilia is with clotting factors, associated proteins that bind the platelets together and stick them in place, rather than a lack of platelets.
Does this mean it will make a way for blood to flow in an artery? Or does it just get in the way?
Does it make room for healing cells? TFA says it doesn't interfere, but does it get out of the way when the body starts to heal?
Could something be added to 'nourish' the or promote more healing cells?
Does it promote healing or just act like a mega-bandage?
Don't get me wrong, I think it'd be great to throw this stuff in a first aid kit so you could just glop it on if you get a gash while out hiking or hunting. They could be the first real 'med-packs' like in them 'video games'.
This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
There's a company called HemCon that makes a chitosan bandage - it's a protein gel bandage made from chitosan extracted from shrimp shells. The US Army currently uses it in Iraq & Afghanistan.
A large percentage (which I don't have the time to look up right now) of battlefield deaths are really bleeding to death, not instantaneous. To this end, soldiers carry "Quckclot", a powder that is similar to this product- similar but not the same. This seems to work faster- and would save lives on the battlefield.
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There's several different kinds of hemophilia. Besides the genetic caused ones (usually platelets will be scarce, nonfunctional or both), lack of certain elements in food intake (see vitamin K) will affect bleeding.
me too, its called Bacta http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/List_of_Star_ Wars_substances
Geeze, you sure do have a cynical view of scientists. They love animals just as much as you do!
In the study, they only used animals with emotional problems who would cut themselves. They would watch the animals, and after the animal would cut themselves, they'd apply the protein gel. While they were studying the healing of the wound, another team of scientists who are conducting experimental depression therapy would treat the animals to stop them from cutting themselves any more. Both humans and animals benefit!
Also, I have it on good authority that rabbits actually enjoy having mascara smearing into their eyes, and were quite upset when they discovered certain humans were trying to stop the practice.
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Hemophilia can be caused by a lack of several proteins that take part in the clotting cascade, but the substance usually responsible is factor VIII.
Sometime in pre-history, it was noticed that many things like; dried marigold petals and spider web staunches blood. It was common practice to bleed patients at one time, and when the leech was removed, spider web was used as a poltice. I have personally used spider web on cuts, and it stops the flow in seconds. I should have applied for a research grant dang it!
- Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
As a potential solution to rising gun fatalities, maybe we could use it to coat bullets.
1 voice in a sea of voices
According to the title the gel quickly stops bleeding, but I think it would be better if it didn't bleed in the first place.
So I think I'll wait for version 2.
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Indeed - superglue was invented to close wounds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superglue#Medicine and is still used in hospitals around the world
I make my own protein gel.
Yes, but have you ever squirted it into any gaping holes to see if the bleeding would stop?
She bleeds all the time! Maybe this will help with that "not so fresh feeling".
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Quick, leverage the synergy!
A few weeks ago, I was talking about Trauma Center for the Nintendo DS with a friend of mine. In the game, you play a doctor who operates on patients, removing tumors with your stylus, sewing them back up, etc. My friend's girlfriend is in med school currently and says that all the basic procedures are accurate enough, with the exception of one: a gel you apply to stop bleeding. I guess that's not true anymore.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
All bleeding stops one way or another no matter how bad it is....
How about packing helmets/vests/etc with a layer of this stuff for things that get through? I for one would prefer that the padding in a helmet be filled with this rather than plain ol' squishy gel.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
I was really enjoying the article blurb going 'oh right! Awesome!' to myself until I read "paradigm shift"... Not even the best technology can overcome the power of a cliche.
Here is the original press release:
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http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/hemostasis.htm
Not much new information here, but it's nice to read things that come "straight from the horse's mouth", so to speak.
Of real consequence is the main researcher's lab website:
http://web.mit.edu/lms/www/
It is chock full of interesting research on self-assembling peptides, including what substances they've been trying, and the eternally-asked question, Can I run my laptop off of spinach?(They isolated the chloroplast/photosystem of spinach, and hope to use it for photovoltaic purposes).
As far as discussion, most of the application has been suggested in the field of delicate microsurgery. Why not band-aids for the masses? Most likely due to the cost. Aside from the financial barriers in bringing an idea to mass-market, especially in the medical field, imagine trying to keep the candidate liquid substance stable for storage, to be used at a moment's notice; if it self-assembles easily, then it can "gel up" just as easily, too. This is combined with the fact that there are already several fairly effective ways to stop the typical cuts-and-scrapes of a household, from regular band-aids and gauze to liquid bandages (which quickly seals off a wound and prevents bleeding, in about the same amount of time). The real application would be in situations where regular hemostasis measures cannot be used or are undesirable. Again, this goes back to microsurgery. In most surgery, hemostasis is achieved by either tying off the bleeding vessel with suture, cauterizing the end of the vessel with a Bovey (an electrical tool used for cutting and cauterizing) or a laser, or simply clamping the vessel with a hemostat. There are other methods, but those are the most common ones in routine surgery. Clamping the vessel is not practical in confined spaces (the hemostat takes up space), cautery can't be used in all situations, and you can't always tie off the bleeder. The self-assembling gel described would be a boon in those surgical situations, another "arrow in the quiver", so to speak. The aforementioned application in patients with hemophilia is also plausible, if less certain.
Sadly, the journal that they are publishing in, Nanomedicine, is fairly brand new and not stocked by my local library yet. There have only been three issues of it so far (June 2006, August 2006, and October 2006) and the latest is not on their website yet. I would really like to read that article in full.
Yay! gotta get some of that stuff, re-bottle it and sell it to thinkgeek as "Potion of Healing Serious Wounds" =P
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That idea kinda reminds me of what they used to line the fuel tanks of some of the larger bombers in WW2. A rubber that when it came into contact with the fuel would swell and harden. So, if a bullet hit it, it would self seal.
Not only that but spider webs are covered with antiseptic agents too.
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There's a small summary and a nice picture at http://www.microscopyu.com/galleries/smz1500/spid
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