Technology has come a long way in the clinical realm. Oregon
State University engineers are contributing to the advancement of technology by
currently researching a treatment for sepsis. A general overview of this
mechanism would be circulating a patient’s blood through an external machine
that kills and filters out the bacterial agents in the blood. Although there
are similar mechanisms, including dialysis and plasmapheresis, this idea is
revolutionary. This would give a safe alternative to antibiotics which often
have unfavorable side effects.
This external device would be an approximately the size of a
coffee mug. It would contain thousands of microchannels coated in pendant
polymer brushes. The brushes are made of carbon and oxygen atoms chains which
prevent blood proteins and human cells from attaching or coagulating while
circulating. At the end of chain is a peptide which is where the magic happens!
These special peptides bind the endotoxins in the bacteria and remove them from
the blood. The newly filtered blood is returned to the patient.
As a person who has previously suffered from septic
infections, this treatment sounds like heaven compared to the strong
antibiotics administered in the hospital. This treatment may reduce the healing
time and possibly fatalities from resistant organisms. I am looking forward to
see the conclusion of this treatment.
Article Link:
http://www.healio.com/infectious-disease/emerging-diseases/news/online/%7B9a2cf1c1-d55f-4a24-8e50-f1f3a7b292ec%7D/osu-engineers-develop-processor-to-treat-prevent-sepsis
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