Artificial blood is an innovative concept of transfusion medicine where specifically designed compounds perform the task of transport and delivery of oxygen in the body to replace this function of allogenic human blood transfusion.

1. Artificial Blood
Presenter Name
Artificial Blood

2. Agenda
What is Blood?
Artificial blood
Why Artificial blood?
Types of Artificial blood
Advantages and Disadvantages
The Future of blood
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3. Introduction
Blood is circulated in the body through blood vessels by
pumping action of the heart. With lungs, arterial blood carries
oxygen from inhaled air to the tissues of the body, and venous
blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product of the metabolism
produced by cells, from the tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.
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4. 4
RBC
Platelet
s
Plasma
Protein
Monocyte
Lymphocyte

5. Timeline
1616
William Harvey described how blood is
circulated throughout the body.
1667
First successful human blood
transfusions.
1854
Salt and saline solutions.
1868
Hemoglobin and animal plasma.
1883
Creation of Ringers solution by Sidney
Ringer. (Sodium +potassium +calcium
salts)
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6. Blood components
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Whole blood
Solid fraction
(cells-45%)
Red blood
cells (93%)
White blood
cells (0.16%)
Granulocytes Agranulocytes
Platelets (6-
7%)
Fluid fraction
(plasma-55%)

7. Blood Functions
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Oxygen and carbon dioxide transport
Immune response
Clotting
Transport of metabolic products

8. Blood Substitute
What is Artificial Blood?

9. Why do we need Artificial blood?
• Challenge:
• 38,000 – The number of blood donation needed by India every day!
• 4 crore – Number of units every year our nation requires out of which only 40 lakhs units
of blood are available.
• 4% of people in the eligible population of India donates blood.
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Why we need?
Shortage Short shelf life
Rare blood
group demand
Immunological
incompatibility
Disease
transmission

10. Artificial blood
• Artificial blood (also called Blood substitute or Blood surrogate) is a substance used to
mimic and fulfil some functions of biological blood.
• It aims to provide an alternative to blood transfusion, which is transferring blood or
blood-based product.
• It does not contain plasma, RBCs or WBCs.
• Ideal characteristics:
• Safe to use and low cost
• Compatible in human body
• Able to transport oxygen and release oxygen where needed
• Free of pathogens and toxins
• Viscosity similar to blood.
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11. Types of Artificial blood
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Four polypeptide chains
4 heme groups that bind oxygen
Hemoglobin-based

12. Types of Artificial blood
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Hemoglobin-based Perfluorocarbons

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RBCs (7 microns)
Hemoglobin-Based oxygen carrier
(HBOCs) (0.08 – 0.1 microns)
Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) (0.2
microns)

14. Hemoglobin-based
• Normally in red blood cells.
• Free hemoglobin causes kidney damage.
• Cow and human hemoglobin are
modified to stabilize it preventing toxicity.
• Closest method to be approved for use.
• Ex: Hemopure, polyHeme, Hemospan.
H E M O G L O B I N S O L U T I O N S
• Surface Modified Hemoglobin.
• Intramolecular Cross Linked Hemoglobin.
• Polymerized Hemoglobin.
• Liposomes Encapsulated Hemoglobin.
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Fermentation
Seed tank
E.coli
bacterial
strain

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Inter molecular cross linked
Hb
Polymerized Hb
Surface modified Hb
Liposomal Hb

16. Hemoglobin-based processing
Artificial blood (nih.gov) 16

17. Perfluorocarbons
• Can carry around 5 times more oxygen than hemoglobin.
• Insoluble in blood – combined with lipids to form an emulsion.
• About 70 times smaller than red blood cells – can provide oxygen to areas where
normal blood flow has been blocked.
• Ex: Oxygent and Oxycyte.
• Advantages:
• Long shelf life (approx. 12 months)
• Universal
• Sterile
• Mass producible
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19. Limitations
H E M O G L O B I N - B AS E D
• Still requires refrigeration
• Limited manufacturing ability
• Oxygen carrier only
• Blood pressure disturbance
P E R F L U O R O C AR B O N S
• Only work for 48 hours in the body before
removal (not suitable for large blood
loss).
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20. The future of Artificial
blood
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22. Cell Culture
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23. Blood Pharming
• Growing RBCs from stem cells from bone marrow or umbilical cord.
• Similar oxygen carrying ability and lifespan as native red blood cells.
• Cells selected to produce O-negative blood.
• Complicated and expensive process.
• Still being researched.
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24. Summary
What is blood?
What does it do?
Why do we need artificial blood?
Types of artificial blood
The future of blood
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25. Thank You
Group 1
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26. References
Artificial blood (slideshare.net)
Artificial blood (nih.gov)
Justifying research for artificial blood YouTube
Artificial Blood: A Futuristic Dimension of
Modern
Day Transfusion Sciences (nih.gov)
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LINKS