Conventional gauze bandages do not work well enough because, although they absorb blood, they do not prevent its flow. Thomas Fischer and colleagues at the Francis Owen Blood Research Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill think they may have the solution.
His team has discovered that bandages made from about 65% glass fibre and 35% bamboo fibre not only absorb blood but also stimulate the body's ability to staunch the flow by triggering the release of blood-clotting factors such as thrombin or fibrinogen. They say the bandages work even better if they are themselves impregnated with blood-clotting factors.
Given the number of military casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq this is an idea that could well be fast-tracked. The idea is part-owned by a company called Entegrion, which was co-founded by Fischer. So all the pieces are in place for the bandages to be commercialised soon.
Read the full patent application for blood-staunching bandages.
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