From Deseret News archives:
BYU team is pursuing new way to thin blood
When blood comes in contact with medical devices, such as the heart-lung bypass machine used in open-heart surgery, it coagulates. So a blood thinner called heparin is typically used to keep it fluid and flowing. For most people, that works well, said lead researcher Kenneth A. Solen, professor of chemical engineering at BYU. But a small subset of those patients still numbering hundreds of thousands have a negative reaction to heparin.
While some researchers have focused on alternatives to heparin, the BYU researchers have been trying to figure out if they can take something out of the blood, in this case proteins called clotting factors. They studied the feasibility in the lab, then moved to benchtop studies where then-doctoral candidate Jared T. Parker was able to extract the clotting-factor proteins.
The first of the published studies outlines the benchtop research, where they explored parameters such as how much gel to use, based on blood volume. The second outlined the animal studies.
The process needs more study to see if there are long-term effects. Human studies are likely years in the future, he said.
Parker, now an engineer at W.L. Gore, had a graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation that helped fund the studies. Other funding came from an NIH small-business innovation grant to other members of the team at the company Thrombodyne, based in Salt Lake City. Other researchers included David Beutler, then a BYU undergrad, and colleagues at the Utah Artificial Heart Institute, where the animal studies were conducted.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com
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