This book functions as a comprehensive and authoritative reference book in blood transfusion and blood substitutes. It is a collection of the latest developments and the newest investigations, and individual chapters are written by world experts in the arena. The book begins with a historical review on the practice of transfusions as well as the components and physiology of blood. The following chapters cover various topics, including platelet substitutes, hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, perfluorocarbon based oxygen carriers, and safety issues related to artificial hemoglobin. All chapters provide a bulleted highlights list to facilitate readers in mastering the main points of each individual chapter. Blood Substitutes and Oxygen Biotherapeutics is an invaluable reference book for perioperative care providers, hematologists, anesthesiologists, surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists.

This book is not a "proceedings" volume. Rather the chapters are essays by experts in the field of blood substitutes, invited by the editors to con tribute to the 1996 "Current Issues in Blood Substitutes Research and Development" course given in San Diego, March 18-21. The contributors were selected because of their expertise in areas deemed by the editors to be critical to the advancement of the field. The course, as in past years, is heavily influenced by feedback from par ticipants, and by research in this and related fields. In addition to the didactic lectures (for which these chapters are the foundation), the course also offers the opportunity for presentation of research reports, progress reports from the various companies currently commercializing products, and round table discussions of selected subjects. Thus, we are grateful to past participants for their helpful comments. Production of a book, especially on a short timeline, is not an easy feat.

While a reliable supply of donated blood is vital in modern medicine, it remains the case that blood transfusion comes with its own problems, such as infectious diseases, immunological adverse reactions, and difficulties with long-term storage and transportation of blood components. With a view to solving these problems, developing a suitable blood substitute has been a major goal for decades. Artificial Oxygen Carrier: Its Front Line is a compilation of reports on the concepts behind artificial oxygen carriers, as well as the new discoveries in the field that were presented during the 13th Keio International Symposium for Life Science and Medicine. This volume describes valuable topics, including artificial red blood cells, modified haemoglobin, perfluorocarbons, and haemoglobin vesicles. It explains cutting-edge developments in artificial oxygen carrier research and will be a valuable resource to all concerned with the field.

This definitive volume will provide the reader with up to date information and the most recent science of the fast-evolving area of nanobiotherapeutic-based blood substitutes. Long studied, there are recent updates that make their use in patients more promising, and with one product approved for human use, many more in the pipeline. These include 2nd generations and even third generation ones, the later with enhancement of red blood cell functions. In addition, there are carefully written and referenced updates on the recent history and products in the field, complete with pathophysiologic and pharmacologic studies to validate and verify the efficacy and safety of many of these new products.

This volume contains a collection of essays by selected authors who are active in the field of blood substitutes research or closely allied disciplines. These essays were delivered as lectures by the authors at the second annual "Current Issues in Blood Substitute Research and Development - 1995" course sponsored jointly by the Departments of Medicine and Bioengineer ing, University of California, San Diego, the National Institutes of Health (NHLBI), and the U.S. Army on March 30, 31, and April 1, 1995 in San Diego. This course had three goals: to present fundaniental discussions of scientific issues critical to further development of artificial oxygen carriers, to provide academicians a forum to discuss their current research, and to provide the companies involved in developing products the opportunity to update the audience on their progress. The organization owes much to the solicited comments of the attendees of the 1994 course. We would like especially to thank the U.S. Army, particularly through the efforts of COL John Hess, who provided significant funding to make publication of this volume possible. In addition, a number of the participating companies provided additional financial support to offset the costs of the course. These include Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., Hemosol, Nippon Oil and Fat, Northfield Laboratories, and Ortho Biotech.