Fibrinogen bandage on the horizon

Researchers are close to perfecting a new type of bandage made of the natural blood clotting agent fibrinogen. It would aid people who have suffered a traumatic wound such as a gunshot or stabbing where stopping blood flow as quickly as possible is critical to their survival. Fibrinogen increases the "stickiness" of clotting cells, thickens blood and promotes the formation of fibrin, the protein that forms the basis of blood clots. In the current study, the team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University conducted a structural analysis of fibrinogen fibres that they manufactured using a technology known as electrostatic spinning or "electrospinning." By pumping a fibrinogen-containing solution into a syringe exposed to a very high electric charge, the researchers were able to draw out a tiny strand of fibrinogen with the aid of an electric field. As the stream of fibrinogen is shot out of the syringe, the solution evaporates and a continuous strand of fibrinogen forms a non-woven mat of fibres. The key to electrospinning of fibrinogen is that it creates a fibrous mat or sheet with a very large surface area thereby providing more sites where blood can react to form clots. The bandage feels like a flannel shirt and is made up of long strands of fibrinogen that create mesh-like, fibrous webbing. Smaller pieces could be used to stop localised bleeding during surgery. While an ordinary gauze bandage made of cotton acts like a dam to block blood loss, a bandage of fibrinogen could have the advantage of immediately arresting blood loss by enhancing the body's ability to form a natural blood clot. The bandage would not need to be removed. Since it is made up of the same components as a real blood clot, the body would naturally degrade it during the healing process. So far the team has tested the bandage in small animals. If tests in larger animals and humans prove successful, then the fibrinogen bandage could be commercially available in two or three years.