How would it be if the viruses causing HIV and hepatitis C could be zapped out from the blood stream of an infected patient? No, this is no another Hollywood creation of medical wizard, but efforts of a team of scientists, who knows no word synonym to ‘impossible.’
A team of researchers have come up with a new challenge with the use of lasers. Yes, they have meticulously used ‘laser’ to blast viruses out of blood!
The new innovative technique uses a low-power laser beam with a pulse lasting just fractions of a second to rid isolated blood of dangerous pathogens – it eventually brings challenges in disinfecting blood for transfusions, and perhaps HIV and hepatitis C s well.
Blood transfusion always leaves the one receiving it with the risk of developing the infection, as the prevailing techniques, which use UV irradiation and radioisotopes, can leave a trail of blood components mutated or damaged, or both.
Johns Hopkins University student Shaw-Wei David Tsen says,
Our laser repeatedly sends a rapid pulse of light and then relaxes, allowing the solution surrounding the virus to cool off. This significantly reduces heat damage to normal blood components.
I had to repeat the experiment several times to convince myself that the laser worked this well.
So, once proved successful, the new laser technique can eventually replace the ultrasound techniques by penetrating energy-absorbing water surrounding the viruses, followed by vibrating the pathogen directly.
Image Courtesy: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions