Hemopurifier to Treat Ebola

By Aarav Shah;

Technology Columnist; The Lawrenceville School, NJ

Long a major problem and currently spreading a frightening wave across parts of the African continent, Ebola continues to resurge into the mainstream population in certain parts of the world. The Ebola disease is caused by becoming infected with orthoebolavirus, and the current associated mortality rate with Ebola stands at approximately eighty to ninety percent depending on the severity. This specific type of virus was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976 CE, and the virus has made an outbreak this past year. Currently, in Central Africa, the Bundibugyo strain is the most prevalent and threatens to harm many African lives. Approximately 1,000 cases and less than 300 deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and select parts of Uganda. Treatments have come a long way with Ebola, yet the current methods are strain-specific and do not target the virus holistically. 

Recently, however, treatment methods have begun to concern blood-filtering devices that can effectively remove any existing viral particles from a patient's bloodstream. So far, blood-filtering devices have become instrumental in removing tumor particles in cancer patients, as well as removing infectious particulates in COVID-19 patients. The widespread appreciation and advocacy for this novel Ebola treatment, the Hemopurifier, started with a Ugandan doctor infected with Ebola while helping patients in Sierra Leone. Organs shutting down and his quality of life gradually worsening, German doctors made the move to connect the Ugandan doctor to the Hemopurifier, a cartridge comprised of proteins from the snowdrop plant. These proteins are responsible for targeting and capturing the sticky, sugary surface of Ebola particulates, removing them from the bloodstream. Important to note, the Hemopurifier is not electrical in nature, but rather it acts as a dialysis machine. Connected to the Hemopurifier for about six and one half hours, approximately two hundred fifty-three million Ebola particulates were removed from the Ugandan doctor's bloodstream. In fact, the Ebola concentration went from about 380,000 particles per milliliter to 6,000 particles per milliliter. Roughly a week after, the Ugandan doctor achieved an enormous feat and the virus dwindled. The company that created the Hemopurifier is Aethlon Medical, and the promise behind the device stems from the hope that the Hemopurifier can help alleviate almost any strain of Ebola. 

Ahead of this novel innovation, the challenge remains introducing the device to countless physicians and health networks to ultimately adopt this technologically sound treatment. Additionally, European centers have more comfortability in administering a treatment such as the Hemopurifier, especially in major cities like Frankfurt, Germany. However, in other nations around the world, having access to stable power sources and ensuring proper administration is hard to maintain. This logistical barrier, in and of itself, is enough to prevent the rapid acquisition of the novel Hemopurifier. 

There are, indeed, other companies that produce less technologically complex machinery similar to the Hemopurifier, but Aethlon Medical remains committed to helping cure Ebola.

Works Cited 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026, June 2). Ebola Disease Basics. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ebola/about/index.html 

Lanza, Mario & Pazos, Sebastian. (2026, June 29). The Lab Mistake That Might Revolutionize Computing. Retrieved from https://spectrum.ieee.org/artificial-neurons-on-silicon-chips