SwabTech Limited, a UK-based spinout of the National Health Service, has received a £0.5m ($642,925) funding injection from Catapult Ventures to continue developing its automated Surgical Swab-Washer, which assists in the process of recycling patients’ blood.

The Surgical Swab-Washer assists in the process of recycling patients’ blood. Image source: SwabTechAccording to SwabTech, up to 50% of blood is soaked up by swabs during surgeries. Many hospitals use Intraoperative Cell Salvage (ICS) systems. In this way, recovered blood from the swabs is re-infused back into the patient during or after surgery. This relies on manual washing of the swabs in a saline solution. The process is labor-intensive and may result in inconsistent blood recovery results. It also can’t be performed during orthopedic procedures due to potential contamination from bone fragments.

The Surgical Scrub-Washer, developed by a clinical scientist, a surgeon, and an engineer, is designed to wash swabs in a closed sterile environment (see video). During surgery, an upper chamber is loaded with used swabs. These are washed in a saline solution when the lid is closed. When the washing cycle is complete, the swabs are removed, the lid is shut, and the system primes itself for the process to be repeated. A lower chamber collects the recovered blood and saline solution and delivers it to the ICS system, where it is prepared for transfusion back into the patient. The technology is expected to increase red blood cell yield and to be suitable for use during orthopedic procedures.