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BioHemostat May Replace Battlefield Tourniquet, Reduce
Amputations
Oct. 10, 2001
Richmond, Va. – As America delivers
its military response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
scientists at VCU are developing a device to treat high-pressure
bleeding that could save wounded troops and reduce limb
amputations.
The BioHemostat was invented by a
team led by Marcus E. Carr, M.D., Ph.D., a professor
in VCU’s departments of internal medicine, pathology
and biomedical engineering. The device is designed to
replace the ages-old battlefield tourniquet –
a crude but effective emergency medical device used
to restrict blood flow to injured limbs.
"The good thing about a tourniquet
is it stops all blood flow," said Carr, who also
is president of Hemodyne Inc., a tenant in the Virginia
Biotechnology Research Park. "But the bad thing
is it can cause complications, such as nerve damage
and blood stoppage, that increase the risk of amputation."
Made of fibrous material that can
absorb about 1,400 times its weight, the BioHemostat
expands when wet to fill a wound and stop arterial bleeding.
This allows blood to continue flowing to other parts
of the limb and reduces amputation risks. The device,
which comes in different shapes and sizes, can be inserted
into a wound by a medic or another soldier and left
in until removed by a surgeon.
"Think of Pampers diapers and
how they expand when wet," Carr said.
Carr envisions the device being issued
to all infantrymen to apply to wounded comrades when
a medic is not available.
Military statistics show two-thirds
of all combat-related deaths are due to bleeding; 80%
of those deaths occur within 15 minutes of injury. The
statistics also show the rate of limb amputation due
to battlefield arterial wounds has not improved since
World War II, despite aggressive advances in surgical
treatment.
Carr also said the BioHemostat has
consumer uses: 50% of all civilian trauma deaths are
from bleeding.
Carr presented his preliminary work
on the life-saving device to a U.S. Department of Defense
conference in Florida on Sept. 11, the day of the terrorist
attacks in New York City and at the Pentagon.
Carr’s Hemodyne is developing
the BioHemostat using high-tech equipment at VCU’s
School of Engineering and a $300,000 grant from the
Department of Defense obtained through the Virginia
Commonwealth University Reanimation Engineering Shock
Center (VCURES), a coalition of clinicians and basic
scientists from both the medical and academic campus
locations of VCU.
"It’s been exciting, and
I think it will be one example of many collaborations
between medicine and engineering at VCU," said
Gary E. Wnek, Ph.D., chair of chemical engineering.
Audio Reports
1--Carr
says the BioHemostat is designed to replace the ages-old
battlefield tourniquet:
2--Carr
says the idea was not to invent a better tourniquet:
3--Carr
says the device expands when wet:
4--Carr
explains how the BioHemostat works:
5--Carr
says unlike a tourniquet, the BioHemostat can be left
in place until a surgeon removes it:
This article also
available at : http://www.vcu.edu/uns/Releases/2001/oct/100801.htm
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