Gold Nanoparticles Can Control Blood Clotting--And Minimize Use Of Blood Thinners

by Monica Davis

Gold has been a source of wealth, an object of worship and now, it seems, a life saver.  New research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that it can also be used to control blood clotting.

This is another application of nanotechnology.  It is a major breakthrough in medicine. Doctors can now turn clotting off and on in surgery and bypass dangerous blood thinners. This gives them more control over the clotting process and minimizes side effect of blood thinners.

According to a press release from MIT:

Using gold nanoparticles, MIT researchers have devised a new way to turn blood clotting on and off. The particles, which are controlled by infrared laser light, could help doctors control blood clotting in patients undergoing surgery, or promote wound healing.

Currently, the only way doctors can manage blood clotting is by administering blood thinners such as heparin. This reduces clotting, but there is no way to counteract the effects of heparin and other blood thinners.

“It’s like you have a light bulb, and you can turn it on with the switch just fine, but you can’t turn it off. You have to wait for it to burn out,” says Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, a technical staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and senior author of a paper describing the new particles, which can turn blood clotting off and then restore it when necessary. SOURCE