Perfluorocarbon‐Based Oxygen Carriers: Review of Products and Trials

Abstract

A viable blood substitute is still of great necessity throughout the world. Perfluorocarbon-based oxygen carriers (PFCOCs) are emulsions that take advantage of the high solubility of respiratory gases in perfluorocarbons (PFCs). Despite attractive characteristics, no PFCOC is currently approved for clinical uses. Some PFCOCs have failed due to secondary effects of the surfactants employed, like Fluosol DA, whereas others to adverse cerebrovascular effects on cardiopulmonary bypass, such as Oxygent. Further in-depth, rigorous work is needed to overcome the annotated failures and to obtain a safe PFCOC approved for human use. The aim of this study is to review in detail the most-used PFCOCs, their formulation, and preclinical and clinical trials, and to reflect upon causes of failure and strategies to overcome such failures.

A bioinspired omniphobic surface coating on medical devices prevents thrombosis and biofouling

“…The most successful approach to date has been to chemically immobilize heparin on blood-contacting surfaces to reduce thrombosis and lower anticoagulant administration 9,10 . Although this approach has been widely adopted, major limitations persist because the surface-bound heparin leaches, resulting in a progressive loss of anticoagulation 24,25 . Importantly, the TP continues to retain the free LP as a thin mobile liquid layer even when the surface is challenged with a flowing immiscible fluid, such as blood (Fig.…”

“…Thus, to create non-adhesive, anti-thrombogenic surfaces that might be useful for clinical medicine in the near-term, we set out to develop a way to modify the SLIPS technology so that it can be applied to these smooth surfaces. This was accomplished by covalently binding a molecular perfluorocarbon layer, or tethered perfluorocarbon (TP), on the material surface and then coating it with a freely mobile layer of LP, such as perfluorodecalin, which has been used extensively in medicine for applications such as liquid ventilation 21,22 , ophthalmic surgery 23 and as an FDA-approved blood substitute 24,25 . Importantly, the TP continues to retain the free LP as a thin mobile liquid layer even when the surface is challenged with a flowing immiscible fluid, such as blood (Fig.…”

“…Blood flow was also maintained without producing significant differences in hematologic parameters, pathology or histology (Supplementary Note 1 and Supplementary Table 2), and there was minimal leaching of LP into the blood. In the few blood samples where it was detected, free LP levels were at or near the limit of detection (0.07 g/ml blood or ~4 g LP/kg body weight), which is over 6 orders of magnitude lower than levels of LP that have been used clinically without toxicity (5.6 g LP/ kg body weight) 24,30 . …”

Acoustic Droplet Vaporization and Propulsion of Perfluorocarbon‐Loaded Microbullets for Targeted Tissue Penetration and Deformation

“…[32,33] These new US-triggered, PFC-loaded microbullets can travel at remarkably high average velocities (~6.3 m s −1 : over 100 times faster than currently published micromachines) [11][12][13][14] and deeply penetrate and deform kidney tissue. The concomitance of powerful MB propulsion, biocompatible PFC emulsion fuel, [35] and deeply penetrative, yet medically safe US [34] could lead to highly targeted in vivo drug delivery, artery cleaning, gene regulation schemes, and cancer therapeutics that require higher specificity and accuracy than the current state-of-the-art.…”

 

“…However, the perfect carrier has not been found. [3][4][5] At present, the artificial oxygen carriers are mainly divided into two kinds according to adopted materials: the type of perfluorocarbon and the type of hemoglobin. [6][7][8] Although the two types of carriers are both common in the present researches, the ways of carrying oxygen are different.…”