Blood transfusions are the most well-known and frequently performed cell transplantations. Although current transfusion systems are sophisticated, they cannot be freed from the inherent difficulties that include infection, short shelf life, and blood type mismatching. Artificial oxygen carriers produced using hemoglobin (Hb) are designated as Hb-based oxygen carriers (HBOCs), which are anticipated for use as biomaterials that have potential to resolve issues of transfusion by a radical paradigm shift. Various HBOCs, nanometer-sized to micrometer-sized bioparticles having an oxygen-carrying function, are developed for use as substitutes for red blood cells (RBCs). This paper presents an overview of the classification of HBOCs with reference to their histories, preparations, structures, functions, and in vitro and in vivo properties. Additionally, we give a more detailed introduction of our academic studies of liposome encapsulated Hb, designated as Hb-vesicles (HbV), which mimic the physiologically important corpuscular structure of RBCs. This review outlines perennial efforts and approaches to mimic RBC functions through chemical, genetic, and encapsulation techniques. It will provide important insights into the eventual realization of an alternative for RBC transfusion.

输血是最著名和最常进行的细胞移植。尽管当前的输血系统很复杂，但它们无法摆脱感染、保质期短和血型不匹配等固有困难。使用血红蛋白 (Hb) 生产的人工氧载体被指定为基于 Hb 的氧载体 (HBOC)，预计将其用作生物材料，通过彻底的范式转变有可能解决输血问题。开发了各种 HBOC，即纳米尺寸到微米尺寸的具有携氧功能的生物颗粒，用作红细胞 (RBC) 的替代品。本文根据 HBOC 的历史、制备、结构、功能以及体外和体内特性，概述了 HBOC 的分类。此外，我们更详细地介绍了我们对脂质体封装的 Hb 的学术研究，称为 Hb 囊泡 (HbV)，它模仿了 RBC 的生理学上重要的红细胞结构。本综述概述了通过化学、遗传和封装技术模拟 RBC 功能的长期努力和方法。它将为最终实现红细胞输注替代方案提供重要见解。