Finding new ways to overcome the phenomenon of blood clots

US scientists have found a new way to solve the problems of blood clotting in surgery thanks to gold nanoparticles.

Dr Hamad-Schifferli and his colleagues have just published their study in PLoS One about a new technique that will address the surgical coagulation situation. Currently, surgeons are using blood thinners like heparin to prevent the formation of blood clots during surgery. The use of this substance is highly effective in preventing blood clots, but after that, doctors will take a long time to wash them out of the patient's body.

Dr Hamad-Schifferli and his team used strands of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid - the genetic material in humans and almost all living organisms) attached to gold nanoparticles and dissolved into a tube containing human blood. . Gold nanoparticles are smaller than 1 / 10,000th the thickness of a human hair.

However, the team used infrared lasers to stimulate gold nanoparticles to release DNA strips to stop blood clots. After a short period of time, these nanoparticles will automatically dissolve in the human body to help blood to clot normally.

These laser beams can also be added to the tools that surgeons are using. According to Dr. Hamad-Schifferli, it may take a while before this new method is applied to the human body, because they need to be tested successfully on animals first.