Two-component, systemically injectable hemostat

Longtime ISN-affiliated MIT professors Paula Hammond and Bradley Olsen and their research teams have developed a two-component, systemically injectable hemostat for the treatment of internal bleeding. The injected materials migrate to the potentially unseen, unidentified site of internal bleeding and there begin the clotting cascade. The system addresses both primary and secondary hemostasis — platelet plug formation and fibrinogen clot formation — and “significantly increases survival relative to… particle-only control” in models. Future work is expected to include research on imaging the hemostat materials in vivo in order to quickly identify hidden wound sites for faster additional treatment.
An illustration of a blood vessel showing the clotting mechanism at work sealing a hole.

MIT engineers have designed synthetic nanoparticles that can be injected into the body and help form blood clots at the sites of internal injury. Image: Christine Daniloff/MIT

An illustration of two blood vessels. The first shows a single-component system with activated-platelet-binding nanoparticles while the second includes a two-component system.

Two-component system designed for wound-targeted crosslinking. a) Single-component system with activated-platelet-binding nanoparticles and b) two-component system with click-functionalized nanoparticles and crosslinking groups for wound-targeted biorthogonal crosslinking. Image: C. Hong, Y. He, P. A. Bowen, A. M. Belcher, B. D. Olsen, P. T. Hammond, Engineering a Two-Component Hemostat for the Treatment of Internal Bleeding through Wound-Targeted Crosslinking. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2023, 12, 2202756.