It is amazing to think about some of the capabilities that we have come to in the 21st Century. A team at Boston Children’s Hospital has added one more to the list; particles that can be injected and allow a person to live without breathing. Granted, this medical discovery will only last 15 to 30 minutes, but just enough time provided that millions of lives will be saved each year.

Injection of the particles goes directly into the bloodstream allowing quick oxygenation to the body; even if the person is not breathing. This breakthrough injection will give medical professionals 15 to 30 minutes of keeping a patient (regardless of respiratory failure) alive without risking a heart attack or permanent brain damage while attempting to save them long term. The particle injection has been thoroughly tested and proven successful on animals under severe lung failure. When injected into the veins of the patient, oxygen was briefly restored to near-normal levels; providing, in most cases, just enough precious moments of life to be saved with little to no permanent damage to the brain. Like solutions have failed in the past due to the injection causing gas embolism, rather than oxygenation to the cells. John Kheir, MD, doctor at the Department of Cardiology at the Boston Children’s Hospital, says that the issue has been resolved by using deformable particles, instead of bubbles.

“We have engineered around this problem by packaging the gas into small, deformable particles. They dramatically increase the surface area for gas exchange and are able to squeeze through capillaries where free gas would get stuck.” Says John Kheir, MD
The discovery of this life-giving injection may sound incredibly futuristic, but we are here, this is the future. Thanks to such modern day medical innovations, more people will live longer, healthier lives than ever before.

Filed under: Science