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Under Development: Micromagnetic-Microfluidic Blood Filter

medgadget.com — The Ingber Lab at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston has developed a magnetic blood filtering system to get rid of microbes from blood in situ. This system works by adding plastic-coated iron-oxide beads that are coated with antibodies for a specific pathogen. The beads will then strongly adhere to the pathogen in the blood

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 25, 2009

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  • Slackdragon, on 06/25/2009, -0/+7If up to greater than 20 percent of the plastic-coated iron-oxide beads remain in the system, how does the body get rid of them? Are they flushed out via normal waste avenues? Is the plastic degradable so that the body can oxidize the iron beads?

    I ask because this seems like a really cool concept, but not knowing how the body handles the remaining 20% of the injected iron/plastic particles has me curious. Can any Digger with a medical background answer?
  • copypastry, on 06/25/2009, -0/+7Under Development: Borg Nanoprobes.
  • TDDebug, on 06/25/2009, -0/+4If this is ever actually going to be used, please let me know so I can digg this.
  • iharfor, on 06/25/2009, -0/+3Well, that could mean the end of malaria, or fatal infections like staph.
  • DaNuKaSAN, on 06/25/2009, -0/+3Clever girl...
  • CalcProgrammer1, on 06/25/2009, -0/+2I read this in Popular Science a few days ago, looks like a pretty cool technology.
  • nyxerebos, on 06/25/2009, -0/+2the MSM is more interested in talking about 'hero dogs' and celebrities, so I'm not surprised.
  • anonymousmedic, on 06/25/2009, -0/+2They're probibly designed to be handled in the same way as metabolic wastes by the kidneys. Either that, or they use some form of hemodialysis.
  • nyxerebos, on 06/25/2009, -0/+1... which is Space Klingon for 'bury me you sons of meat animals.'
  • cjh24, on 06/25/2009, -0/+1and AIDS
  • nyxerebos, on 06/25/2009, -0/+1massive eukaryote/bacterial infection, maybe. tiny quantities of virus, I have my doubts
  • anonymousmedic, on 06/25/2009, -1/+2Because this has a scientific basis to it. "Electrifying" the blood doesn't. It's not directly attacking heme molecules, but rather binding the pathogens to nanobeads using specific protein and binding sites, and attracting them via magnetism to the filter.

    But if you want to believe in Magical Healing Energies, then go ahead.
  • diggamax, on 06/25/2009, -1/+0 Hey, it's probly hype, I don't see anything in local or nationwide news networks about it, in fact, if I don't log into digg I would've never known!
  • spooks2k6, on 06/25/2009, -3/+2And yet when I posted a story on D.Sc. Bob Beck and his blood electrifier, (which is cheaper and non-invasive,) it's called quackery. It's amazing what happens when you have a big school name backing you up.
  • AutoTom, on 06/25/2009, -6/+1love the 90's style pictures
  • inactive, on 06/25/2009, -6/+0Meg Griffin

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