what is it?
Bio-Spleen is a device developed by scientists at Harvard's Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering that is capable of cleaning blood from an infection.
how does it work?
In the Bio-Spleen, blood is cycled outside the patient's body and is filtered by microfluidic channels. The channels' magnetic beads become attached to a protein called mannose- binding lectin (MBL) present in the immune system. From there, the protein attracts bacteria, fungi viruses and other harmful toxins. Next, the magnets on the Bio-Spleen extracts the magnetic beads from the blood and in turn removes the attached toxins from the bloodstream. Finally, the cleansed blood flows back into the patient.
how is technology incorporated in it?
The Bio-Spleen is an external gadget that uses magnetic nano-beads coated with a genetically engineered human blood protein known as mannose-binding lectin (MBL). When attached to human blood, the protein binds to pathogens, which then can be extracted with a magnet.
in what ways will it contribute to our society?
Sepsis is a severe blood infection that is potentially deadly and is caused by infections. Before the development of more advanced medical technology, proper treatment of sepsis often required identifying the the virus or bacteria which caused the infection. This process took several days and by then, the infection often worsened and lead to death. According the Scientific American, 18 million people globally are affected by the disease each year and 8 million people die of sepsis annually.
With such a high mortality rate, the ability to use Bio-Spleen to treat infections is incredible. The use of this technology could prevent millions of deaths each year. In relation to the current world. the MBL protein has been known to bind the Ebola virus and thus may potentially be utilised to treat the disease. Also, the MBL protein has been reported to attract to the Marburg virus and HIV. This technological breakthrough (when further refined) will most certainly come into use for possibly finding an intervention for these global diseases in the future.
With such a high mortality rate, the ability to use Bio-Spleen to treat infections is incredible. The use of this technology could prevent millions of deaths each year. In relation to the current world. the MBL protein has been known to bind the Ebola virus and thus may potentially be utilised to treat the disease. Also, the MBL protein has been reported to attract to the Marburg virus and HIV. This technological breakthrough (when further refined) will most certainly come into use for possibly finding an intervention for these global diseases in the future.