Take an important step in obtaining artificial blood

2011/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Nanoteknologia
• Medikuntza

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have managed to manufacture particles that mimic red blood cells. One of the major challenges in obtaining artificial blood has been obtaining red blood cells, whose functions and characteristics are very special and difficult to produce in the laboratory. Now, however, they have announced a breakthrough.

They used PRINT technology. Thanks to this technology, they have first created molds and then filled them with hydrogels. In this way, thousands of hydrogel particles of shape, size and flexibility of red blood cells have been manufactured.

In the tests carried out with the mouse it has been possible to verify that the most flexible particles last almost 100 hours in circulation before the expulsion of the bodies. Red blood cells have a life of 120 days and as flexibility is lost, the body dissolves in the spleen. In trials to date, red blood cell imitations barely lasted a few hours due to their excessive stiffness. The current ones last 30 times longer and in addition, like the true red blood cells, it expels the bodies through the spleen.

They have not yet done tests to see if they are useful for transporting oxygen or medicines, but the researchers are if so. Moreover, they believe they can be "especially useful" in cancer treatment.