The last major breakthrough in the field was the discovery of tranexamic acid in 1965.
By Shula Rosen
An Israeli research team has unveiled a medical innovation that could transform emergency care for trauma victims and surgical patients suffering from dangerous blood loss.
Prof. Abd Al-Roof Higazi, director of the Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Division at Hadassah Medical Center, developed the ClearPlasma device with his Nazareth-based company, PlasFree.
The small filter attaches to a bag of donated plasma, removing proteins such as plasminogen and tPA that normally inhibit clotting.
By eliminating these proteins seconds before transfusion, the plasma helps the body form stable clots and halt bleeding.
“When someone experiences massive bleeding after surgery, trauma, or an accident the first goal is to stop it,” Higazi told The Times of Israel.
“With this device, the treatment is simple: the plasma runs through the filter and then goes into the patient. The result can be life-saving.”
Blood transfusions are often essential in such emergencies, but doctors face a dilemma: the same proteins that keep plasma fluid also prevent clotting once inside the body.
Dr. Shmuel Banai, head of cardiology at Tel Aviv University Medical Center, who is not affiliated with the project, called ClearPlasma “an elegant solution” to this longstanding problem.
The device relies on chromatography, a lab technique that separates blood components, and has already been tested on 200 patients in hospitals in Israel, Italy, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
According to Higazi, patients required fewer plasma units and red blood cell transfusions, faced a lower risk of continued bleeding, and reported no side effects.
PlasFree recently received Health Ministry approval to market the device in Israel and is preparing applications for European and US trials.
Higazi emphasized the urgency of tackling uncontrolled bleeding, the leading cause of trauma deaths worldwide.
He noted that the last major breakthrough in the field was the discovery of tranexamic acid in 1965, a drug still widely used despite risks such as thrombosis.
“For decades we have had no new approaches,” he said. “What we are doing now is truly different.”
After more than 25 years in coagulation research, Higazi believes the device could save countless lives — from car accident victims to soldiers on the battlefield.
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