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Artificial blood boils to restore life

June 16, 2004

blood.jpgAn artificial substitute for blood, that could save the lives of many people suffering from severe blood loss, was the topic of a visiting lecturer at the University of New England.

Professor Claes Lundgren explained how the newly-invented substance, when injected in small amounts into the bloodstream, is able to transport oxygen around the body as efficiently as 200 times its volume of blood.

Claes Lundgren is Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the State University of New York at Buffalo in the United States, and Director of that university’s Centre for Research and Education in Special Environments. He visited UNE on Tuesday [1 June] to present a lecture titled “Life without Blood”.

An emulsion containing particles of a liquid fluorocarbon, the blood substitute has a boiling point of 29 degrees C. This means that, when injected into the bloodstream (37 degrees C.) it boils, creating tiny gas bubbles that travel with the bloodstream to the lungs, pick up oxygen, and then deliver the oxygen to the vital tissues.

Professor Lundgren’s Centre, in collaboration with the American company Sonus Pharmaceuticals, is developing this use of the emulsion (which was originally made by Sonus as a contrast medium for ultrasound studies of the heart). Animal trials have demonstrated its life-saving potential. Although it will take at least two years (and a development cost of $20 million) for the blood substitute to be approved for human use, Professor Lundgren hopes that it will eventually be something carried in every ambulance.

Professor Lundgren, who was in Armidale visiting his cousin Bo Lundgren, describes himself as “a spare-time inventor”. He holds (with co-inventors) more than 120 patents. Many of these relate to human engineering (including breathing gear for divers) and pharmaceuticals (including the smoking-withdrawal product Nicorette). “I’ve always been interested in respiratory physiology: human function during diving, flying, and space travel,” he said.


Media contact: Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE, Armidale (02) 6773 3049.

A photograph is attached. It shows Professor Claes Lundgren (centre) with his Univeristy of New England hosts Professor Ken Watson and Dr Gudrun Dieberg.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at June 16, 2004 12:32 PM