Treatment of serious internal bleeding requires replacing lost blood with fresh donor blood, but this is not always an option. In poor areas and those with a lack of healthcare infrastructure donor blood may simply be unavailable. A new device is being launched by Sisu, a young company based in Baltimore, Maryland, that lets clinicians reuse a patient’s own blood gathered from internal hemorrhages. The company’s Hemafuse device can be used alone to replace a patient’s blood, or in conjunction with donor blood when little of it is available.
According to the Baltimore Business Journal, Hemafuse is being made available for purchase online and will also be distributed in Ghana and Kenya where it is approved for sale and expected to help rescue a lot of people.
The Hemafuse doesn’t require any electricity, being operated mechanically by hand. It can be reused up to 25 times thanks to replaceable filters, though the reuse seems to only be approved in Ghana and Kenya. It does have to sterilized between used to prevent pathogens jumping between patients.
According to the company, the device is intended for “most situations of hemothorax and hemoperiteneum (including incidents of blunt trauma and early pregnancy complications) and exclusion criteria include threats of malignancy (cancer) or sepsis.”
1) When the handle is pulled up, blood is pulled through a filter. The specialized design of the filter removes clots and impurities. 2) When the handle is pushed down, the blood is then pushed through tubing into a blood bag. 3) The blood bag is then connected to the patient for a gravity-fed transfusion.
Product page: Hemafuse…
