Development of Dried Blood for Prolonged Field Care in Austere Environments
Abstract
Blood transfusions are critical life-saving procedures for treatment of blood loss due to trauma and other conditions. Over 13 million units of red blood cells (RBCs) are transfused in the U.S. each year making it the most common medical procedure in U.S. hospitals. Blood is acquired from donors but in most cases must be used within 42 days. Frozen storage can extend the shelf life, but this approach is limited by complex processing requirements and slow thawing, which is disadvantageous when blood is needed rapidly. These limitations are responsible for blood shortages that occur in many hospitals and pose a significant barrier to transfusion medicine in places where refrigeration is not available, such as far-forward military operations in austere environments or medical centers in remote locations. Therefore, an effective method to process RBCs for long-term preservation at ambient temperature would have a significant impact. The objective of this project is to validate a new process that enables long-term preservation of RBCs in a dried state at ambient temperature by loading the sugar trehalose into RBCs. Trehalose is a naturally occurring cell protectant found in plants and lower animals (including brine shrimp known as “sea monkeys”) that helps those organisms survive water-limited states such as dehydration or freezing. However, trehalose does not cross cell membranes efficiently and must be actively loaded into cells that do not naturally express transporters for this sugar. To solve this problem, we have developed a new method using ultrasound and microbubbles to induce small temporary pores in cell membranes, which enables trehalose to enter the cells before the pores close. The objective of this project is to assess the quality and performance of RBCs after dry storage. Experiments will be performed to measure their metabolism and other properties. In addition, the quality of RBCs will be assessed after dry storage at ambient temperature. Furthermore, rehydrated RBCs will be transfused into animals to test their efficacy in a living system. Successful development of this approach will have a significant impact on human healthcare and save lives. Dry preservation of RBCs could revolutionize transfusion medicine for far-forward military operations in austere environments and would also enable transfusions in remote medical centers where long-term storage of blood components is currently impossible.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 10, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2010866
Entities
People
- Jonathan Kopechek
Organizations
- United States Army
- University of Louisville