Fluosol

Fluosol is an artificial blood which is milky in color. Its main ingredients are perfluorodecalin or perfluorotributylamine in Fluosol-DA and Fluosol-43 respectively, perfluorochemicals suspended in an albumin emulsion. It was developed in Japan and first tested in the United States in Nov 1979, its recipients being individuals who refused blood transfusions on religious grounds. Fluosol serves as a dissolving medium for oxygen. In order to "load" sufficient amounts of oxygen into it, patients must breathe pure oxygen by mask or must be in a hyperbaric chamber. While initially promising for therapy of heart attack, carbon monoxide poisoning, and sickle-cell anemia, research also indicates that Fluosol may depress the patient's immune system.