Posted on 04/09/2006 5:53:21 PM PDT by AntiGuv
It is a prospect that terrifies bioweapons experts: Terrorists release smallpox into an American city, spreading sickness and panic. Because the disease is untreatable and vaccines no longer exist, first responders and other emergency personnel would be particularly vulnerable.
A new invention, however, may help to avert the worst of this worst-case scenario. Aethlon Medical, a small San Diego biotech company, is developing a portable device that removes viruses from blood. Known as the Hemopurifier, it filters not only smallpox but numerous other viruses, including Marburg and Ebola.
The Hemopurifier resembles a shrunken dialysis cartridge, the rolling-pin-size device that purifies the blood of patients whose kidneys have failed. Both use a filter to remove toxins from blood. But unlike traditional dialysis, the Hemo-purifier also includes plant-derived antibodies, such as cyanovirin, that bind to a variety of viruses and eliminates them from the bloodstream. The plant solution can be modified to weed out even genetically engineered germs.
Aethlon has built two versions of its device. One, a foot long and an inch wide, is designed for use in hospitals; the other, the size of a large pen, is meant for use in the field. Both types attach to a pump. But the portable version could work without one, using the patient’s heart as the engine to force blood through the filter [see illustration above].
Aethlon recently shipped several Hemopurifiers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for cell culture tests on human blood infected with Ebola. Meanwhile the company has already completed its own tests in animals. Though promising, the Hemopurifier still has a few big hurdles to clear, the biggest of which is successful testing in humans. Aethlon is wrapping up safety trials in India and hopes to begin clinical tests in the U.S. by the end of this year.
How To Debug Blood
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Gee, as Will Smith said in INDEPENDENCE DAY -- I gotta get me one of those.
Can we buy stock?
yes
Wow. I was always thinking there had to be a way to filter the blood but I was looking at it the wrong way. The way of blocking the redblood and haveing the viruses go through the screen is awesome.
This is going to he hugh!
Interesting..................it was in clinical trials in 2001.....time to get this baby to market.
That is definitely an interesting article. If I might venture a guess based on the dates and the respective information in the articles, this seems to have been first developed solely (or at least primarily) with the intent of treating HIV. What might've happened is that when it was discovered that HIV mostly hides out in the lymphs they realized this wouldn't work for that. However, they switched gears and have been developing it for other blood-borne diseases, especially bioweapon threats.
That's just conjecture on my part, but that would strike me as explaining the five year timespan and the different focus between the 2001 article and this 2006 article.
Two questions:
If one is re-infected (as a primary caregiver in a hospital, for example) how often must one's blood get re-filtered? How infectious is someone after their blood is filtered?
Oh, what is the cost per filter, and how are the filters disposed of?
Nonetheless, looks like good news.
Cheers!
Yes, a $2 investment in March 04 would be worth $0.75 today.
This is interesting, but it won't "cure" you as viruses reproduce within cells. Even if you filter 100% of the viruses from circulating blood, that still leaves a large population of virons within your cells which will reproduce.
Well blow my dress up!!!!!!!!! How cool!!!
Yes, it sure seems like they switched gears. Still, a very promising development. Thanks for the initial post.
ping
Great! This is revolutionary!
My thoughts too.
They could miniaturize it, implant it and it could be left in indefinitely. That would work, wouldn't it?
Kind of like a stent, huh? Interesting idea! I'm sure they're just focusing on getting to first base for now, but if this succeeds as hoped for then I don't see why that wouldn't be doable, but I am not a doctor.
Nice idea, but I doubt it will work. As noted, viruses spread via the blood, but they get into the cells, too.
Also, in a mass epidemic, there's no way something obviously as expensive as this could treat more than a few people.
This technique is similar to the way I separated large proteins in solution from salts. A substance called a Sephedex gel is placed into a tube. The "gel" is made of small hollow spheres with holes in them. When the protein/salt solution is poured over the gel, the salt solution experiences the entire volume inside and outside the gel globes see example. The larger proteins experience only the excluded volume, thus they flow faster though the Sephadex gel tube.
This "purifier" adds a new dimension. The interior of the globes contains an antibody that captures the virus. It is sort of a "roach motel" for viruses. It's a very nice concept. The monoclonal antibody techniques created about 20 years ago paved the way for creation of custom antibody for use in this fashion.
Very interesting!
No. The antibody that is capturing the virus particles is consumed on a one for one basis. When all the antibody is consumed, you need to replace the media with fresh material.
I used Sephadex gels as my first pass for removing most of the salt from my protein/salt solution. The salt is generally a consequence of spinning down a protein solution against a tube full of salt gradients in a centrifuge. Proteins sink until they hit a "buoyant" level. You slurp out the material at the interesting boundary with a pipette, then go about the process of getting rid of the salt and/or sugar used in the gradient. I usually finished the process with a membrane/osmosis technique.
a nod to he (DawsonvilleDoc) who brought this article to our attention :)
Ebola replicates inside a cell until it explodes from the internal pressure. Organs of an infected patient become hard like an over inflated ball. Filtering the blood wouldn't do squat for ebola. The damage occurs in parallel throughout the body.
Are there biotechs in Idaho? I'm in SSF. How do you like it there? I'm getting sick of renting...
Looks like a classic pump and dump stock!
Roach Motel! Ha - good one. Excellent way to describe the concept of this machine without too much work - very concise! :-)
Perhaps the idea is to reduce the viral load to a point where the body can handle the rest. I don't know; I'm just speculating. It would make no sense that they would develop something inherently and self-evidently useless (as it's essentially being described), but I suppose it's possible.
Yes, but that isn't my line of work now. Here is a reference to some biotech in Idaho. I had all these experiences as an undergraduate in molecular biology at Revelle College, UCSD in 1976. My labs were very good and my profs were happy to exploit my lab skills.
I make my living as a computer scientist/electrical engineer working for a large employee owned corporation. My home is my office. I chose to move to Idaho to escape the crowding, traffic, high cost of living and anti-gun spew of Sacramento.
There is a move afoot to bring a medical school to our local Idaho State University campus in Pocatello. There is also a company that makes nuclear "seeds" for medical radiation implants that is planning to open a facility here in Pocatello. Our major employer right now is AMI Semiconductor. The Ballard Medical facilities are being closed after a recent merger/acquisition initiated some consolidation.
I actually live in Chubbuck...next to Pocatello. I like it very much. I sold the 1334 sq ft 4 br 2 ba house in Mira Mesa and purchased a 3900 sq ft, 4 br 3 ba house on 1/3 acre in a very nice neighborhood (179,000 in October 2000). I'm 154 miles from West Yellowstone. My wife and I visit about every 2 weeks from April until October. If you like outdoor activities, we have alpine skiing, cross country skiing, mountain biking, snow mobiling, water skiing and boating, fishing, hunting and hiking within a 15 mile radius. I can do all my important shopping in a 2 mile radius. Special runs to Idaho Falls (46 miles) are required for a big Barnes & Noble, Sam's Club, Circuit City, Target and Lens Crafters.
The only thing I didn't check out carefully before moving here is wind. The area can be very windy. Steady winds of 15 to 40 knots with gusts from 45 to 90 knots. We get about the same amount of annual precipitation as San Diego, but at 4500 feet elevation it arrives as snow in the Winter and some rain the Spring. Summers are warm and we have very low humidity. Mowing the lawn at 95 degrees is literally "no sweat" at 15% humidity. Lawn mowing is only necessary from mid-May until mid-October. Grass doesn't grown below 55 degrees. It can get cold here. The lowest temperature in my backyard this winter was -21 F. We had about a week of -5 to -15 in early December. Summers range from 86 F to 104 F. Between 90 and 95 F is par for a summer day.
Check out http://www.realtor.com for zipcode 83202 for an example of the current market.
Useful not only with outbreaks of deadly viral illnesses, but also to remove viruses in immunocompromised patients, in whom viruses would be deadly to them, but not to those with normal immune systems.
Ping
The blood borne hemorrhagic fevers kill too quickly for the human immune system to mount a defense. It takes nominally 2 weeks for an antigen to provoke any detectable production of antibody. Ebola will infect, replicate and rupture host cells in 2 to 3 days from exposure. Marburg has a longer incubation phase, so it might benefit from the filtration approach.
Stock? Might be a good idea...
It might not be enough to prevent scarring, but it may lower the virus load enough to get someone over the hump so that they can survive. Pretty nifty. :)
One more question: how quickly can you filter somebody's blood so that the virus is really and truly gone? If you can get one person per (say) 6 hours, from a purely logistical standpoint this thing is useless in a bio-attack unless you've got tens of thousands of them lying around.
Weren't people taking your blood out and heating it to kill virus and other pathogens years ago?
I think it was banned because it interfered with our modern medicine making a living.
When they discover how to filter out the genetic bug which produces the liberal mindset, they'll REALLY be on to something!
Yes, but what do you do with the viruses that have left the bloodstream and are in cells?
I had to check your link when I saw Sephadex, and I finally came to discover how the name was formed, as a sort of contraction of Separation Pharmacia Dextran. I worked with it for a semester when it was made under Pharmacia's trademark.
Yes, but hopefully this gets other inventors to start looking at using this technology for other important applications. This many not be the solution to what it claims, but it might work for controlling other blood borne virus that don't attack other cells as viciously.
bump
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