Non-compressible hemorrhages are the most common preventable cause of death on battlefield or in civilian traumatic injuries. We report the use of sub-millisecond pulses of electric current to induce rapid constriction in femoral and mesenteric arteries and veins in rats. Extent of vascular constriction could be modulated by pulse duration, amplitude and repetition rate. Electrically-induced vasoconstriction could be maintained at steady level until the end of stimulation, and blood vessels dilated back to their original size within a few minutes after the end of stimulation. At higher settings, a blood clotting could be introduced, leading to complete and permanent occlusion of the vessels. The latter regime dramatically decreased the bleeding rate in the injured femoral and mesenteric arteries, with a complete hemorrhage arrest achieved within seconds. The average blood loss from the treated femoral artery was about 7 times less than that of a non-treated control. This new treatment modality offers a promising approach to non-damaging control of bleeding during surgery, and to efficient hemorrhage arrest in trauma patients.

Date Published: 23 February 2013
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 8585, Terahertz and Ultrashort Electromagnetic Pulses for Biomedical Applications, 85850I (23 February 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2002303

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8585:
Terahertz and Ultrashort Electromagnetic Pulses for Biomedical Applications
Gerald J. Wilmink; Bennett L. Ibey, Editor(s)