By now, we have all heard of or have had
accidents in which the blood just does not stop flowing. Some of those injuries
probably required immediate medical attention. Now, think of an injured soldier
in the battlefield with only minutes left to live due to the excessive
bleeding. When every hope is gone of getting immediate medical care for the
wound, the soldier pulls out a gel, injects it into the wound, and the blood
stops promptly.
These were the ideas that Joe Landolina, a 17
year-old at the time, thought of as he discovered VetiGel. He is now the CEO of
Suneris, a company dedicated to manufacturing and modifying the gel to
eventually make it approved and available for use in humans.
Although this is a huge innovation for the many
different fields, the science behind it is very simple. The gel is made from
tiny polymers, which are extracted from breaking down algae. The polymers work
synonymous to Lego blocks. Extracellular
matrix is different in different parts of the body so Landolina created a
product that can reassemble itself and react with the local extracellular
matrix, just like Lego blocks together. The gel will work with the difference
extracellular matrix of the wounded location. Immediately after contacting the
damaged tissue (skin or organ), the gel will instantly transform into a
mesh-like structure, which also help the body's natural process in wound
healing. The gel helps the body produce more fibrin to close the wound faster.
Since fibrin functions to repair tissues over time, VetiGel will not only close
to wound but it will also help heal the wound. Bleeding will stop and will
remain stopped due to the high clot strength
as well. Although simple in explanation, it is impressive for a 17
year-old undergraduate to discover it. 
As discussed by Collins and Amabile, three
important components in creativity are "intrinsic task motivation,
domain-relevant skills, and creativity-relevant processes." Landolina
undoubtedly fits into all of these. His intrinsic motivation is to ultimately
have these products out so that it can be used on humans and animals (pets,
wild animals, and more). He is striving for an innovation in the medical field
to provide that immediate medical care when a person has less than 3 minutes to
live. He possesses domain-relevant skills since he created the VetiGel in this
grandfather's winery lab alone after noticing the polymer characteristics of
algae. He also has creativity-relevant processes since he is planning to use
VetiGel for many different purposes. Beyond stopping traumatic blood flow, he
envisions this gel to treat burns and assist in the regeneration of organs. He
is solving many crucial problems with one type of gel.
As of now, this gel is not available for human
use but the company and Joe Landolina are both working hard to make it a
reality. However, the gel is used in some veterinarian offices and is in hopes
to expand. Maybe in the future, we will all have some VetiGel handy in our own
first aid kits.
Works Cited:
Collins, M. A., & Amabile, T. M.
(1999). Motivation and creativity. In Robert J. Sternberg
(Ed.) Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
As someone who is prone to accidents and have had my fair share of Emergency Room visits, this is such an amazing medical breakthrough! It's crazy that Landolina had this brainstorm in his grandfather's winery after simply noticing algae...you really tied together creative processes well with what Joe has accomplished so far. I wonder when this gel will be ready to be used on humans? This would have been amazing for our troops overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with our troops slowly being pulled out, hopefully this gel will be ready-for-human-use to save at least one life in the Middle East that would have otherwise been lost.
ReplyDeleteBiomedical engineering is a huge hub of creativity. In a sense, they are working to bypass evolution. I would love to here more about how this product can be removed from the wound, because it sure looks sticky. Do you need to remove it, or does it just stay in the tissue? Moreover, I am very interested in learning more about Landolina's creative process. I wonder if it took him many trials and drafts to think of this idea, or if it was a quick answer. Either way, he seems like a prodigy. Interesting person and an interesting product.
ReplyDeleteThis gel is an incredible innovation, and, hopefully, the price is low enough so everyone is able to afford to have some in his/her first aid kit. In addition, it is amazing to think that derivatives of this gel may soon be used to regenerate organs. This would save thousands of lives because the need for organ donations would be filled by this gel. Instead of getting an organ transplant, this gel could be utilized to regrow said organ. Also, I am curious to find out what specific component(s) of the extracellular matrix the gel reacts with to seal the wound. I can only imagine how complicated it was to create a single gel that can react a certain way with a specific type of tissue.
ReplyDeleteI would also be curious to see what the long term consequences are to using this gel. As Kyle said, it looks like it would be difficult to remove from the wound as it is providing the basis for the tissue to regrow. Does the gel break down after a certain period of time? And if this is the case, since it is natural from algae, would there be any sort of consequences from using it? I wonder how much they've looked at the long term effects on the animals that it's been used on so far.
ReplyDeleteI would also be curious to see what the long term consequences are to using this gel. As Kyle said, it looks like it would be difficult to remove from the wound as it is providing the basis for the tissue to regrow. Does the gel break down after a certain period of time? And if this is the case, since it is natural from algae, would there be any sort of consequences from using it? I wonder how much they've looked at the long term effects on the animals that it's been used on so far.
ReplyDeleteAs a person allergic to both latex and adhesive used in bandaids (I know, my life is a joke), this is an absolutely incredible innovation!! Whenever I get a cut, I have to decide whether or not the rash and burns on my skin that come from my allergies is worth healing the original wound. This VetiGel sounds like a dream. After minor surgeries, a type of glue is used by surgeons to keep a wound closed, which is what I usually have to use when wounded. But I agree with Nicole, where I am very curious about what the long term consequences would be? What if you injected the VetiGel too deep and caused clotting in your vein? How long does VetiGel last? What happened when you're done with it? Does it just wash away? There are definitely a lot of unknowns and a lot to figure out before it could ever hit the shelves, but it sounds like a great step forward in medical innovations. I love that you also pointed out how Landolina relates to our Collins reading, and how he has the three parts of creativity. Great blog post! Can't wait to see what the future holds with this item!
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