A blood-cleansing technology to treat life-threatening blood infections in critically-injured soldiers and patients has been designed by scientists.

The DARPA has also asked the institute to help accelerate the technology's translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy.
The device will be used to treat bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in critically-ill patients and soldiers injured in combat.
To rapidly cleanse the blood of pathogen, the patient's blood is mixed with magnetic nano-beads coated with a genetically-engineered version of a human blood "opsonin" protein that binds to a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and toxins.
It is then flowed through micro-channels in the device where magnetic forces pull out the bead-bound pathogen without removing human blood cells, proteins, fluids, or electrolytes -- much like a human spleen does. The cleansed blood then flows back to the patient.
"In just a few years we have been able to develop a suite of new technologies, and to integrate them to create a powerful new device that could potentially transform the way we treat sepsis," said Wyss founding director and project leader Don Ingber.
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Source-IANS