Developments in Brief : Way Found to Recycle Blood During Surgery

A Swedish surgeon has developed a way of recycling a patient’s own blood during surgery, thus avoiding the risk of infected donor blood.

Heart surgeon Jan Otto Solem developed the method of collecting blood lost by the patient into a closed filtration system powered by a dialysis pump and then sent back to the patient during surgery, according to the influential Swedish weekly Ny Teknik.

The publication said Solem’s invention has huge cost advantages over technically complex self-transfusion systems currently in use in the United States.

“I think this method could become very important in the future,” Solem was quoted as saying.

He said he had tested the system successfully in heart operations, adding that it should enter commercial production before the end of the year.

The “auto-transfusion” technique, described as simple and inexpensive at about $150 per operation, could become particularly important in Third World countries where there is a shortage of blood, he said.

The method would also rule out the risk of infected donor blood spreading the killer acquired immune deficiency syndrome virus and other diseases such as malaria and hepatitis.