Artificial Blood Development Implications for Military Medicine.

Massive hemorrhaging remains the most common cause of preventable battlefield deaths. Blood used for trauma care requires a robust donation network, capacity for long-term storage, and extensive and accurate testing. Bioengineering technologies could offer a remedy to these constraints in the form of blood substitutes-fluids that could be transfused into patients to provide oxygen, carry away waste, and aid in coagulation-that would be used in prolonged casualty care and in far-forward settings, overcoming the obstacles of distance and time.