Having just written about a young inventor’s rapid hemostasis gel that can apparently stop severe bleeding, we learn of another material developed by researchers at Texas A&M, MIT, and Harvard that also works to rapidly cease the free flow of blood from a wound.
The material consists of shear-thinning nanocomposite hydrogels made out of of synthetic silicate nanoplatelets and gelatin. When delivered into a wound, the material immediately solidifies and promotes clotting. Moreover, it does not require pressure to be applied for it to work, an important feature when treating deep wounds and in locations where pressure is difficult to apply. The two-dimensional nanoplatelets within the hydrogels allow the material to regain its rigidity after being injected, helping to begin coagulation within about a minute and reducing clot times by almost 80% in animals studied.
Although the material still has a way to go before proving itself for human use, the possibility of ceasing life threatening blood flow within minutes will have a tremendous benefit for wounded soldiers, which is the reason the U.S. Army is sponsoring this research.
From the study in ACS Nano:
These materials are demonstrated to decrease in vitro blood clotting times by 77%, and to form stable clot-gel systems. In vivo tests indicated that the nanocomposites are biocompatible and capable of promoting hemostasis in an otherwise lethal liver laceration. The combination of injectability, rapid mechanical recovery, physiological stability, and the ability to promote coagulation result in a hemostat for treating incompressible wounds in out-of-hospital, emergency conditions.
Study in ACS Nano: Shear-Thinning Nanocomposite Hydrogels for the Treatment of Hemorrhage…
Link: Texas A&M-MIT-Harvard team developing injectable treatment for soldiers wounded in battle…