There is really just no better way to say it - Sepsis is a horrible, life threatening condition that kills almost half of all the people who suffer from it.
It usually starts with a runway bacterial infection in the blood, followed by a runway immune response which causes a severe damage to the body it is trying to save. This result in multiple organ failure and is one of the leading causes of death in America.
Part of the problem is because the methods available for treating sepsis are not particularly good and reliable which explains why doctors are now introducing blood sifting magnets. Antibiotics can only kill bacteria but the bacterial debris are still left floating in a patient's bloodstreams.
According to Curiosity, researchers from Harvard University and Empa Research group and Adolphe Merkle Institute have discovered a new method to cleanse the harmful bacteria from your blood. The researchers explained that coated antibodies latch to the bacteria when they are exposed to them. And then, using a dialysis machine, magnets will be used to pull out the antibodies together with the bacteria from the patient's blood.
This study is backed by another 2011 research in Zurich, Switerland where nanomagnets were being developed to strip harmful substances from the blood, according to MIT Technology Review. This technology aims to treat people who are suffering from blood intoxication, blood stream infections, as well as certain cancers.
This research involves adding of nanomagnets to the blood to remove inflammatory proteins such as interleukins, or harmful metals like lead. A device like a dialysis machine will also be used in order to filter the unwanted compounds. It was also said that the results of the study were promising because the nanomagnets did not cause cell damage and did not promote blood clotting.
