Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
This finding has the potential to save millions of lives every year. The microparticles can keep an object
alive for up to 30 min after respiratory failure. This is accomplished through an injection into the patients
veins. Once injected, the microparticles can oxygenate the blood to near normal levels. This has countless
potential uses as it allows life to continue when oxygen is needed but unavailable. For medical personnel,
this is just enough time to avoid risking a heart attack or permanent brain injury when oxygen is restricted
or cut off to patients.
Dr. John Kheir, who first began the study, works in the Boston Childrens Hospital Department of
Cardiology. He found inspiration for the drug in 2006, when he was treating a girl in the ICU who had a
severe case of pneumonia. At the time, the girl didnt have a breathing tube, when at the time she suffered
from a pulmonary hemorrhage. This means her lungs had begin to fill up with blood, and she finally went
into cardiac arrest. It took doctors about 25 minutes to remove enough blood from her lungs to allow her to
breath. Though, the girls brain was severely injured due to being deprived of oxygen for that long and she
eventually died.
Microparticle Composition
The microparticles used are composed of oxygen gas pocketed in a layer of lipids. A Lipid is a natural
molecule that can store energy and act as a part of a cell membrane, they can be made of many things such
as wax, vitamins, phospholipids, and in this case fat is the lipid that stores the oxygen.
These microparticles are around two to four micrometers in length and carry about three to four times the
oxygen content of our own red blood cells. In the past, researchers had a difficult time succeeding as prior
tests caused gas embolism. This meant that the gas molecules would become stuck trying to squeeze
through the capillaries. They corrected this issue by packaging them into small deformable particles rather
ones where the structure was rigid.
Conclusion
In the end, this is an amazing medical advancement and I cant help but recall the movie the Abyss when
they took the pill, their helmets filled with air, and they were told they can breathe the water. Well what if
they really couldnt breathe water but since the urge to breathe is natural, that must take place even if
youre not breathing air per se. But your body was provided with enough oxygen for a time period by
taking a pill. Its just goes to show that anything, absolutely anything that can be thought up, can
potentially one day become reality. Thank you scientists, for reminding me that people and their ingenuity
are nothing short of awesome.
Source: http://www.techwench.com/scientists-invent-oxygen-particle-that-ifinjected-allows-you-to-live-without-breathing/