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Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Microfluidic Flow Chambers Using Reconstituted Blood to Model Hemostasis and Platelet Transfusion In Vitro
Published on: March 19, 2016
Transfusion biomaterials for hemostasis
1Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA; Comparative Medicine Institute, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
Bleeding is a leading cause of trauma deaths and surgical complications. Excessive bleeding has traditionally been treated with the transfusion of donated blood. However, the complicated logistics of sourcing and storing donated blood increases the cost and reduces the accessibility of treatment, particularly as rates of blood donation decline. Advances in biomaterials for targeted drug delivery have presented the opportunity for alternative synthetic injectable hemostats. Among these leading technologies are lipid and polymeric particles and polymer platforms that bind to ligands present at wound sites and amplify hemostatic pathways. As leading hemostatic biomaterials advance toward clinical application, we review current preclinical research models and findings as well as future research directions for next-generation biomaterial injectable hemostatic technologies.
Bleeding is a leading cause of trauma deaths and surgical complications. Excessive bleeding has traditionally been treated with the transfusion of donated blood. However, the complicated logistics of sourcing and storing donated blood increases the cost and reduces the accessibility of treatment, particularly as rates of blood donation decline. Advances in biomaterials for targeted drug delivery have presented the opportunity for alternative synthetic injectable hemostats. Among these leading technologies are lipid and polymeric particles and polymer platforms that bind to ligands present at wound sites and amplify hemostatic pathways. As leading hemostatic biomaterials advance toward clinical application, we review current preclinical research models and findings as well as future research directions for next-generation biomaterial injectable hemostatic technologies.
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