| Description |
One quarter of American troop deaths in the Middle East were classified as "potentially survivable." Of these, over 90 percent of the battlefield deaths and over 80 percent of the deaths in treatment centers were attributed to one factor: blood loss. Blood's limited supply, short half-life, and refrigeration needs have prevented it from meeting the harsh demands of combat zones. Fortunately, synthetic blood substitutes known as artificial oxygen carriers (AOCs) have demonstrated the potential to solve these problems but no product has received and retained FDA approval for human use due to concerns that include renal toxicity and increased stroke risk. AOCs that could resist endocytosis, withstand turbulence, and be removed from the bloodstream have the potential to alleviate such problems. Unfortunately, the development of the most promising class of AOCs with such characteristics -oil-in-water emulsions incorporating perfluorocarbons -has been hindered by poor understanding of its production, phase stability, and dynamic gas exchange properties. To facilitate the modeling and engineering of such emulsions, a wide array of synthesis conditions must be tested and characterized. A key step in many of these emulsion fabrications -membrane homogenization-has been labor or capital intensive. We therefore created a proof-of- concept for an automated system to permit membrane homogenizations up to 500 mL. The prototype costs less than $1,000 in materials for labs already invested in a 100 mL discontinuous extruder and eliminates up to three hours of labor per 500mL extrusion in a showcased medical emulsion. |
