Dec 11, 2007 2:43 pm US/Eastern
New Tool Could Help Seal Wounds In Trauma Patients
(KDKA)
Blood loss can be life threatening for accident victims but soon doctors may have a new tool to help stop internal bleeding without surgery.
Bioengineers at the University of Washington are developing a new ultrasound device that they believe could some day detect and stop internal bleeding.
Minutes count when a patient is bleeding to death from internal injuries.
That's why researchers in Seattle are developing a new hand-held device that will some day help locate and treat internal bleeding.
Bioengineer Shahram Vaezy is demonstrating how energy from high intensity ultrasound can penetrate deep inside a human organ and stop bleeding without damaging surrounding tissue.
"This is a gel that mimics a human organ, the human body, and you can see how we have deposited energy deep in the gel without causing any damage on the surface," said Vaezy. "It's to use a high intensity ultrasound waves to deliver energy to a spot in the body that's bleeding. That energy is converted to heat similar to cauterization and will stop bleeding."
Trauma surgeon Grant O'Keefe is working with bioengineers on the new device and thinks being able to treat bleeding organs without surgery could have important implications.
"It has the ability to get at and to stop bleeding that we would consider in many ways inaccessible," said O'Keefe. "Bleeding that might be in difficult areas in the chest."
With pre-clinical studies complete, the next step for researchers is to move beyond a prototype.
Hospitals would likely benefit first.
Later, a portable ultrasound device for paramedics would allow them to treat internal bleeding at accident scenes
Ultrasound has been around more than 60 years, most women have a diagnostic ultrasound to produce an image of their fetus.
However, this high intensity ultrasound uses much more energy to produce heat that can reach the temperature of boiling water in a matter of seconds.
FAST FACTS:
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In 2004, about 29.6 million Americans were treated for an injury in hospital emergency rooms.
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Trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans 44 and under.
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Uncontrolled bleeding is the cause of 30 to 40 percent of trauma deaths.
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Researchers are testing high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as a possible treatment for hemorrhage control.
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HIFU uses sound waves to stop internal bleeding from outside the body.
For general information on trauma:
American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, http://www.aast.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov
Safe Kids USA®, http://www.usa.safekids.org
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