This advancement could allow a surfer to stay under water for over twenty minutes. Photo: Shutterstock/Gunnar Pippel
Scientists at the Boston Children’s Hospital have made a medical breakthrough, which has the potential to reshape the surfing world. The team has invented a micro-particle that, if injected into the bloodstream, can quickly oxygenate blood and keep a person alive for up to thirty minutes after they stop breathing.
Dr. John Kheir was inspired to start the study after one of his patients had a severe case of pneumonia. She went into cardiac arrest and because there was so much blood in her lungs, she was unable to breath for twenty-five minutes, which led to severe brain damage.
These micro-particles are only about two to four micrometers in length but they carry four times the oxygen content of regular red blood cells.
This advancement could allow a surfer to stay under water for over twenty minutes. If these injections are made available in hospitals and ambulances, they could also save the lives of surfers who are held under too long. When doctors injected the particle into the veins of a patient, it restored oxygen levels almost back to normal. For doctors, this could allow them to prevent a heart attack or life threatening brain damage. The primary cause of cardiac arrest for most patients is attributed to breathing complications.
Although it may sound like a science fiction movie, years of investigation have made this “air in a bottle” possible. This breakthrough could present a boundary-pushing opportunity and safety mechanism for daring surfers. Only time will tell.
Read more at techwench.com
