A<unk>  (also called artificial blood or blood surrogate) is a substance used to mimic and fulfill some functions of biological blood. It aims to provide an alternative to blood transfusion, which is transferring blood or blood-based products from one person into another. Thus far, there are no well-accepted oxygen-carrying<unk> s, which is the typical objective of a red blood cell transfusion; however, there are widely available non-blood volume expanders for cases where only volume restoration is required. These are helping doctors and surgeons avoid the risks of disease transmission and immune suppression, address the chronic blood donor shortage, and address the concerns of Jehovah's Witnesses and others who have religious objections to receiving transfused blood. The main categories of "oxygen-carrying"<unk> s being pursued are hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers (HBOC) and perfluorocarbon emulsions. Oxygen therapeutics are in clinical trials in the U.S. and Europe, and Hemopure is available in South Africa.
Blood substitute
Transfusion medicine
Plasma medicine
Blood product
Artificial organ
Therapeutic food
Blood pool agent
Oral medicine