A Medical Device Daily

Synthetic Blood International (Costa Mesa, California), a biopharmaceutical company, reported that Virginia Commonwealth University Reanimation Engineering Shock Center (VCURES; Richmond, Virginia) has received $1.3 million under a previously awarded U.S. Office of Naval Research grant for the treatment and prevention of decompression sickness (DCS) with Oxycyte.

Oxycyte is Synthetic Blood's perfluorocarbon (PFC) therapeutic oxygen carrier and blood substitute. Synthetic Blood said it has begun manufacturing and shipping Oxycyte to VCURES for use in these studies.

DCS occurs when a diver or submarine ascends to the water's surface too quickly, and nitrogen gas that was dissolved in blood forms bubbles that clog blood vessels that supply oxygen to the heart and central nervous system. This can result in massive stroke, paralysis and death, the company noted.

Work under the grant, titled "Coordinated Follow-up Studies in the Treatment and Prevention of Decompression Illness and Venous Air Embolisms with Perfluorocarbon Emulsions," is led by Bruce Spiess, MD, VCU professor and vice-chairman of Anesthesiology, chief of cardiothoracic anesthesia and director of the research department of anesthesiology.

"Oxycyte has proven capability to carry significantly more nitrogen and oxygen than plasma. Our planned DCS studies will build upon this current knowledge-base, and will focus on the use of mixtures of helium and oxygen to determine Oxycyte's effectiveness in carrying and eliminating nitrogen prior to emergency surfacing while preserving oxygen delivery to vital tissues," Spiess said. "These studies also will advance our understanding of the potential therapeutic benefits of Oxycyte for use in multiple states of critical illness and injury, including traumatic brain injury."