New Blood-Cleansing Device Removes Pathogens, Toxins From Blood

Posted by Soulskill on Friday August 21, 2015 @02:19AM from the send-the-blood-janitor-on-a-fantastic-voyage dept.

jan_jes writes: A team of scientists at the Wyss Institute last year described the development of a device to treat sepsis that works by mimicking the human spleen. The device cleanses pathogens and toxins from blood flowing through a dialysis-like circuit. Now the team has developed an improved device that works with conventional antibiotic therapies and is better positioned for near-term use in clinics. The improved design will be described in the October issue of Biomaterials. This approach can be administered quickly, even without identifying the infectious agent.

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Re:Do You Have Any Idea What This Means?! by Mr+D+from+63 · 2015-08-21 02:48 · Score: 5, Interesting

Being one that watched a family member slowly die from septic shock despite doctors fighting to do whatever they could, I can say that this is quite a big deal. Just like the article said, all the doctors could do was administer different antibiotics and hope. This might have made a big difference.