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Nanoparticle Infused Gauze Quickly Stanches Wounds
jackieduvall writes "Medical gauze has received its first upgrade since World War I. Chemists have infused it with nanoparticles derived from kaolin clay, which somehow give it an amazing ability to stop severe bleeding. It was developed when the Navy approached a team of inorganic chemists at the University of California Santa Barbara to solve a problem with QuikClot, a zeolite-based hemostatic agent that became way too hot and caused burns when it came in contact with water or blood. While performing blood clotting tests, they realized that kaolin clay, which has been used as a control for clotting experiments since the 1950s, could also be used as a first aid product."
There is a video demonstration alongside the article. It shows the gauze halting the bleeding from a pig's aorta. The blood isn't excessive, but if you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may want to skip the video.
I think the difference is that this gauze can be used fairly easily and quickly by just about anyone. The gel mentioned in the linked article seems like it would be more for operative use by surgeons (the summary mentions eye surgery). They are somewhat similar, but this still seems to represent something "new."
"This thing does science so hard, you say, 'I've never seen that much science.'" -Sam
It doesn't say what happened to the pig. I have to hope there was a BBQ afterward.
Yeah, there are also surgical gels made from a polymer which is structurally similar to a protein from mussels.
Sounds like a gauze for celebration!
Medical factoid - kaolin and pectin are the substances that constitute the anti-diarrheal substance "Kaopectate" (hence the name.) Note that it doesn't really do anything but bind with water -- kind of a clay-like substance that will then give one more firm stools.
I think the modern kaopectate has modified its ingredients, but kaolin clay like substances are still available for medical use. Nice to see a new implementation of this technology, with the "nano" prefix thrown in for sexiness.
Slashdotter, ID #101. UIDs are in binary, right?
That's fine for people with blood, but what happens to those of us who are caffeine-based lifeforms?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Clay- all clay- is basically a mixture of kaolin, water, and larger particles (sand or "grog"- crushed clay bits.) Clays with a low percentage of kaolin and a high percentage of inclusions are low-fire clays, such as terra cotta, while a high percentage of kaolin is necessary for high-fire clays such as porcelin.
Porcelin clays are fired between three and four thousand degrees in order to vitrify- which means, to melt and fuse together. Glazes, which are based in sand and metal, vitrify at a lower temperature, which is why pots have two firings, the first to make them pots instead of shaped clay, and the second to decorate them.
Kaolin is not quite as common as dirt or sand but it is found all over the world and not too difficult to obtain. A good college ceramics department will have a barrel on hand.
The upshot of this, I guess, is that if you are foolish enough to stick your hand into a clay mixer, which is like a Kitchen Aid stand mixer on steroids, and get your hand torn off, sticking your hand into the barrel of kaolin dust would be amazingly good first aid.
Actually I am a lab rat in an elaborate plot to take over the world.
I am an eye surgeon [IAAES?], and I find it hard follow why Dmitri Azar in the linked article thinks it would be so useful in our field.
Bleeding isn't normally a big feature of eye surgery such as cataract surgery.
Maybe he has applications in retinal surgery in mind. Blood in the vitreous humour inside the eye clears away very slowly, and sometimes needs to be removed surgically, which is a very major eye operation. It would be good to have some substance you could inject into the eye which would clear the blood faster: in fact various things of this kind have been tried.
It doesn't seem that this stuff would be particularly useful in that way, as it arrests bleeding rather than clears blood.
Neurosurgery I can see, though.
It reminds me of when I did neurosurgery as a trainee, years ago; brain bleeds easily, and the more you touch it, the more it tends to bleed. We used to splosh peroxide on the bleeding spots to arrest bleeding (I don't know if this still goes on).
I remember a cynical anaesthesiologist saying he was convinced that peroxide had no actual effect in itself to stop the bleeding - what happens is that the peroxide fizzes for several minutes and during that time the surgeon has to keep his fingers away from the brain, and it's THAT that arrests the bleeding.
Aberrations have appeared in my destiny prognostication engine!
The U.S. gives more money to countries in need than anyone other country in the world -- by a huge margin, especially if you combine government and private aid. When a disaster hits, the U.S. is often the first there with actual relief supplies. When that tsunami hit, the UN spent the first few months bitching about the quality of the hotel buffet and didn't do a damn thing about the people who needed help. The U.S. immediately sent a naval carrier task force (I think it took about a week to get there) -- which was criticized by idiots. A carrier task force gives you:
Multiple hospitals, fully stocked with everything you need.
Tons of food.
Enough electrical power to supply a city.
The most modern communication equipment in the world.
The ability to create something like 100,000 gallons of pure drinking water a day.
Helicopters for transporting supplies, personal, and the injured.
Construction equipment, bulldozers are handy things when buildings have collapsed.
Security. Natural disasters tend to attract roving bands of thugs who take advantage of the chaos to prey upon the helpless.
etc, etc, etc.
A carrier task force is about the best damn thing to have around when dealing with a disaster of that magnitude. I don't even need to list the huge sums of money and supplies donated by the American people and American businesses. I know of a lot of companies that sponsored donation matching.
-- Will program for bandwidth
As if the military had no other reason to look into this.
Being that kaolin clay binds with water and causes clotting, does this mean that this stuff will work on people who have clotting issues, such as those on blood thinning medications or hemophiliacs?
I'm an Aussie, I generally agree with your post and think Americans (both in government and in private) are generous when disaster strikes.
The ships you speak of helped out in Indonesia, it took less than a week since, they were in the area and arrived before the Aussies could get there (and we live next door!!). The US had a shipload of choppers and spent weeks carting bottled water, desal plants, portable hostpitals, etc, etc. On one isolated island the choppers were attacked by some stone age natives with bows and arrows (who had survived by following their ancestors advice and going to high ground when the earth rumbled), but generally the assistance was greatly appreciated.
One point in your post bugs me, you don't need to denigrate the efforts of others (UN) to make the US look good. The US is great for initial releif and moving a lot of bulk in a hurry. The UN is great for long term assistance and opening the political doors that enable the US Navy to do it's stuff. In other words the US & UN work best together not in competition.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.