Innovative Solutions in Emergency Medicine: The Quest for Artificial Blood
Each year, numerous individuals in the United States succumb to bleeding before reaching medical facilities. This dire situation arises because emergency responders, such as ambulance crews and military medics, are unable to carry blood due to its need for refrigeration to prevent spoilage. This pressing issue has spurred scientific efforts to create artificial blood, which could be stored as a powder and used on-site by medics.
Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore is at the forefront of this development. Inside the facility, Dr. Allan Doctor and his team are conducting experiments on rabbits to simulate severe blood loss, akin to injuries from accidents or combat wounds.
“This rabbit is still in shock. You can see he’s lying very still. It’s as if he was at the scene of an accident,” remarks Dr. Doctor. “If we didn’t do anything, it would die.”
The team plans to revive the rabbit using an experimental synthetic blood designed to mimic human red blood cells. This innovative product is developed from hemoglobin extracted from expired blood, encased in a lipid bubble to form artificial red blood cells. Dr. Doctor emphasizes, “We have to veil the hemoglobin inside a cell. It’s an artificial cell that makes it safe and effective.”
Once freeze-dried, this artificial blood can be easily stored and reconstituted with water in emergencies. “It’s designed so that at the moment it’s needed, a medic can mix it with water and within a minute you have blood,” Dr. Doctor explains.
Preventing Unnecessary Fatalities
Artificial blood’s potential extends beyond civilian emergencies to military applications, where it could save the lives of injured soldiers. The U.S. Department of Defense is heavily investing in this research, allocating over $58 million to fund a consortium working on these solutions. “The No. 1 cause of preventable death on the battlefield is hemorrhage still today,” says Col. Jeremy Pamplin of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Dr. Doctor’s artificial red blood cells, named ErythroMer, hold promise in addressing these challenges. As co-founder and chief scientific officer of KaloCyte, he states, “We’ve been able to successfully recapitulate all the functions of blood that are important for a resuscitation in a system that can be stored for years at ambient temperature and be used at the scene of an accident.”
Successful Animal Trials
In the lab, after a 10-minute infusion of synthetic blood, a rabbit shows remarkable recovery, displaying normal vital signs and behavior. “The really good sign is that he’s very pink,” Dr. Doctor notes. “That’s a good sign he has a lot of oxygen in his blood and it’s being effectively distributed.”
Though promising results have emerged from experiments on rabbits, human trials remain the next critical step. Dr. Doctor aims to begin these trials within two years, while a Japanese team has already initiated human testing of a similar product.
Challenges Ahead for Human Testing
Despite optimism, Dr. Doctor acknowledges the need to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the Food and Drug Administration. The path to approval is fraught with challenges, as previous attempts to create artificial blood have faced setbacks. “I think it’s a reasonable approach,” comments Tim Estep of Chart Biotech Consulting. “But because this field has been so challenging, the proof will be in the clinical trials.”
Copyright 2025 NPR
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