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Israeli researchers have developed a novel medical device designed to save lives in acute cases of severe bleeding. The device, called ClearPlasma, filters donated plasma to remove clot-dissolving proteins, allowing patients to form stable clots more quickly.
ClearPlasma was created by Prof. Abd Al-Roof Higazi and his Nazareth-based biotech company, PlasFree. According to Higazi, the device works by attaching to a plasma bag and filtering it using chromatography, a laboratory technique that separates blood components.
“When a person suffers from massive bleeding — after an accident, surgery, or trauma — the goal is first and foremost to stop the bleeding,” Higazi told The Times of Israel. “The treatment itself is very simple. You give a patient plasma, but before it reaches them, it passes through a small filter. That’s it. But the effect is life-saving.”
Typically, donated plasma is administered to patients to replace lost blood. However, it contains proteins such as plasminogen and tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) that prevent blood from clotting effectively, sometimes worsening bleeding. The ClearPlasma device removes these proteins seconds before transfusion, optimizing clot formation.
Dr. Shmuel Banai, director of the Division of Cardiology at Tel Aviv University Medical Center, praised the innovation as an “elegant solution” to a long-standing paradox in blood transfusions: blood must remain fluid for transfusion but clot efficiently once inside the body.
Clinical trials involving 200 patients in Israel, Italy, Poland, and the Czech Republic showed promising results. Patients treated with the device required fewer plasma units, reduced red blood cell transfusions, had lower risks of massive bleeding, and experienced no adverse effects.
PlasFree recently received approval from Israel’s Health Ministry to market the device domestically. The company, which receives European Union funding, is now preparing to seek approval in Europe and engage with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a large-scale trial.
Bleeding remains one of the deadliest challenges in medicine, particularly among people under 45. Trauma from accidents, warfare, or emergency surgeries often leads to fatal blood loss, making effective interventions critical.
Until now, the primary treatment for severe bleeding has been tranexamic acid, developed in 1965, which promotes clotting but carries risks such as thrombosis. Higazi emphasizes that ClearPlasma offers a unique, side-effect-free approach that could transform emergency and trauma care.
“I have been working in coagulation and fibrinolysis for more than 25 years, and on this project about nine years,” Higazi said. “People often die in car accidents, wars, and shootings because of loss of blood. If we can save them, we give them a whole lifetime ahead of them.”
The ClearPlasma device represents a significant breakthrough in hemostasis, potentially redefining emergency and trauma care globally. Hospitals and trauma centers may soon have a new tool to prevent deaths from acute blood loss.