Researchers from Argonne National Laboratory, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute and the University of Chicago hospitals, all in the U.S., are developing biodegradable nanospheres for cleaning the blood of people exposed to radiological, chemical, and biological toxins. The article says that the technology also has potential for use in targeted drug delivery. The nanospheres are made with a magnetic iron compound and coated with a material that prevents them from being attacked by white blood cells. The nanospheres’ surfaces contain proteins that bind to targeted toxins. The article says that the nanospheres can be injected into the patient’s bloodstream, where they are small enough to pass through blood vessels but too large to be filtered from the bloodstream by the kidneys. The article says that the nanospheres are later removed from the blood using a shunt. The article says that existing filtration methods for cleaning contaminated blood can only treat a few types of toxins, require several hours, and can be risky, and that other treatments such as antibodies and chelators can cause serious side effects.
