Biodegradable Hemostatic Agents for Penetrating Wounds

Badly needed in the military and civilian trauma fields is a product that can stop severe arterial and/or venous bleeding, that is safe, reliable, stores well at ambient temperatures, is sterilizable and biodegradable so that additional surgery is not required after use. UST and a team of experts collectively have had successes in all requirements of this contract. UST provides a patented technology, Preservation by Vaporization, (PBV) that can dry-preserve labile components so that they are stable at ambient temperatures, including platelets, and clotting factors. Preliminary studies with platelet-embedded bandages show great promise in ability to stop hemorrhaging, and are stable at ambient temperatures and during radiation sterilization. The specific aims of this study are: 1. Evaluation of crosslinked Hyaluronic Acid hydrogels for better active biodegradable hemostatic agent (ABHA). 2. Preparation of first generation of ABHA with stabilized platelets for animal studies. 3. Evaluation of ABHA prototypes using animal models The initial phase of this project will focus on selecting the most promising candidates for fully biodegradable constructs to control massive hemorrhage. Later a swine spleen model will be utilized that provides an excellent initial testing and feasibility platform for fully biodegradeable hemostatic products to be developed in this proposal.