Secret apparatus from the Pentagon filters the blood of patients with coronavirus

Recently, experts from the World OrganizationHealthcare (WHO) said that morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 in the world have reached a plateau, but the situation remains dangerous. Almost a year and a half of the fight against the new coronavirus infection has allowed doctors and scientists to identify the most effective treatments for covid. Today, these include oxygen therapy and the use of dexamethasone, a corticosteroid that can shorten the duration of stay on mechanical ventilation and save the lives of patients with severe and extremely severe disease. But what other means to combat COVID-19 are there or will appear in the near future? As the world media reported recently, researchers from an agency funded by the Pentagon have developed a filter that is capable of removing coronavirus from blood cells when connected to a dialysis machine. As a result of this treatment, about 300 critically ill patients have fully recovered. In addition, scientists have also developed a microchip that, when injected under the skin, can detect covid in the body.

New filter able to remove coronavirus from blood cells of critically ill patients

New COVID-19 treatment

You may be surprised, but many innovations,used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic were once obscure Pentagon-funded projects primarily designed to protect soldiers from infectious diseases and biological weapons. So, in the midst of the Cold War, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) appeared - its original goal, you guessed it, was to prevent and slow down the outbreaks of viral infections and pandemics.

As Spain's La Raxon recently reported, the teamDARPA has worked over the years to create a filter that cleans the blood of viruses and bacteria, but after COVID-19 spread around the world, their work focused on treating patients with this ailment.

Previously, WHO experts recommended the treatment of critically ill patients with COVID-19 with steroids.

The new system is called "Seraph 100" and is already being tested in hospitals in America and Europe. As noted by the developers, the new device cleans the blood from viruses by 99.7% and helps reduce viral load and wintime to apply other treatments. Seraph 100 was previously used to combat Zika and Ebola viruses and may prove to be the key to saving SARS-CoV-2 patients. But what is the Seraph 100?

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How does the Seraph 100 work?

April 11 on the American television channel CBS airedshow, which was attended by the developers of DARPA. They noted that the pump pushes blood out of the body, which passes through the inside of the filter for 2.4 or 5 hours (although this may take an entire day), and the circulating pathogen is reduced by 99.7% in the first session. First of all Seraph 100 Is a filter that is used to treat patients, not prevent disease.

Externally, the filter is a cylindricalthe device is about 7.5 centimeters in diameter and about 23 centimeters long. Inside there are many small microspheres, each with a diameter of 0.3 millimeters, which have a kind of hairs, thanks to which viruses and bacteria are trapped. Thus, the patient's blood is purified as in hemodialysis. The pathogen itself is concentrated in the Seraph 100 filter, which is then discarded, ”the developers explain.

“We encourage the research community to createsolutions that might sound like science fiction. We are willing to risk investments that may not work, but if they succeed, they can completely change the picture, ”said Matt Hepburn, director of biotechnology at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Matt Hepburn, director of biotechnology at DARPA, broadcast 60 minutes on CBS.

After about 300 critically ill patientsCovid-19 fully recovered after filter treatment, the FDA has approved the method for emergency use, according to numerous media reports. In addition, scientists from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have also developed a microchip that can detect Covid-19 when injected under the skin.

See also: How my life changed after the coronavirus vaccine

Microchip for detecting COVID-19

During the 60 minute episode, it was also discusseda DARPA microchip that is capable of detecting an infection in the body before the person in question can actually transmit the virus and thus prevent an outbreak. During the broadcast, Hepburn demonstrated to the 60 Minutes team how a tissue-like gel can continuously monitor and test human blood.

“You put a chip under your skin and it tells you what chemical reactions are going on in the body. A signal that SARS-CoV-2 is present means symptoms will appear the next day, ”Hepburn explains.

Officials reportedly stressedthat the Pentagon's purpose is not to track the movements of individuals or collect other data from the implanted chip. We talked about the new device in more detail in this article, I recommend reading it!