Dr. Dean Edell: Decades ago we might not have imagined a complex surgery done with tiny cameras and incisions of size of a mosquito bite or lasers that could save vision and zap tumors. Those medical treatments are now common, but once they were as striking as what you are about to see. Here are three areas where researchers may have found medicine's next big thing. This is a ride no one wants to take. Speaker: It hit the back of my head on the sidewall. Speaker: Primarily we see for trauma patients are car accidents. Speaker: My brain was bruised and head clots on it. Speaker: Many trauma victims are victims of violent shootings. Speaker: They had to do surgery immediately. Dr. Dean Edell: About 1.5 million Americans suffers serious brain injury each year, nearly a third die. And of those who live, 60% end up with some neurological dysfunction. Dr. Bruce Spiess: Falling from that distance, only five or six feet up and hitting your head hard enough, you can have a very bad head injury. Dr. Dean Edell: An injury of brain swells and prevents red blood cells from carrying oxygen where its needed. Brain tissues dies. Dr. Bruce Spiess: If you can get oxygen to that tissue, you can salvage a lot other tissue. Dr. Dean Edell: On the first frontier an artificial blood called oxycyte. Dr. Bruce Spiess: When you take a carbon atom and you add fluoride to it, it can carry a huge amount of oxygen. Dr. Dean Edell: Oxycyte particles are 1/50th to 1/100th of size of a red blood cell. Dr. Bruce Spiess: If your body can't get regular red blood into your brain, these little tiny particles can get there and we believe deliver the oxygen. Dr. Dean Edell: Seven of nine patients given oxycyte in an initial study, not only survived but had remarkable results. Dr. Bruce Spiess: The patients who survived had normal neurologic function. Dr. Dean Edell: Now the Department of Defense is helping fund clinical trials with the hope that oxycyte can help treat soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury. Blood transports life giving oxygen but it can also carry deadly disease. James Joyce: With vast majority of virus pathogens, viruses that are known to be infectious to man are not treatable with drugs and vaccines. Dr. Dean Edell: So scientists on the second frontier are testing a new form of attack with a device called the hemopurifier, it works like a dialysis machine to filter blood. James Joyce: In essence, the cartridge is mimicking your natural immune response of clearing viruses and toxins from circulation. Dr. Dean Edell: The goal is to clear blood of viruses related to measles, mumps and flu, even a bioterror threat like smallpox. Joyce Joy: We have the ability to address the capture of a broad spectrum of viral conditions. Dr. Dean Edell: The third frontier hospitals with a capacity to create human organs on demand. Male Speaker: The third phase is like science fiction and the stuff has is just out of this world. Dr. Dean Edell: Maybe, but in Kaitlyne McNamara's world, it's made life more like that of an ordinary teenager. Kaitlyne McNamara: I really love to talk for -- Dr. Dean Edell: Kaitlyne was born with spina bifida. Kaitlyne McNamara: It is hard living with any disability, specially with spina bifida. Tracy McNamara: Kait's bladder has never functioned correctly because of the spina bifida. Dr. Dean Edell: When her bladder stopped working, her kidneys were damaged and she faced life long dialysis. Tracy McNamara: You know it makes you think what her future is like, what her quality of life is going to be. Dr. Dean Edell: Kaitlyne became a medical pioneer. The first to receive a custom made bladder. Mark Van Dyke: We can grown those cells outside the body and create a new organ, put it back into the patient, and it's genetically matched to that patient so there's no rejection. Dr. Dean Edell: Researchers at Wake Forest University harvest cells from a healthy section of the bladder, grow them in a lab and place them