Biomedical oxygen carriers

The biochemical ejfects of fluorinated surfactants are not completely understood. Perfluorocarbons are used as oxygen carriers in blood without toxic effects [5,6]. The toxicity of some fluorinated surfactants is so low that they have been tested in vivo as emulsifiers in blood substitutes and biomedical oxygen carriers (see Section 10.4). However, some fluorinated surfactants are considerably toxic although they are not metabolized or, if metabolized, produce presumably a nontoxic fluorocompound. 

Of all the fullerene forms, the nearly spherical properties of C o have attracted the greatest attention, especially in the field of bioconjugation. In addition to its physical properties, C o fullerenes have unique photo-optical and electro-chemical properties, which make them useful as carriers for biomedical research applications. For instance, upon exposure to light C o will generate singlet oxygen, which can be used in vivo to cleave biological molecules, particularly DNA and RNA. Studies indicate that irradiation of Cgo in solution can be used to destroy virus contamination (Kasermann and Kempf, 1997). Solutions of Buckminsterfullerene are a deep purple color, whereas other sizes of fullerenes display a variety of other colors. 

A recent study with biotechnology applications relates to amino acid extraction. Schugerl and co-workers (71 ) used a quaternary ammonium carrier in an emulsion liquid membrane system for enzyme catalyzed preparation of L-amino acids. Frankenfield et al. (72) discuss a wide variety of biomedical ELM applications including enzyme encapsulation, blood oxygenation, and treatment of chronic uremia. 

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