Imagine a life-saving spray that instantly stops extreme bleeding.
That’s precisely what researchers in South Korea have developed — and it may change how wounds are handled on the battlefield, and in ambulances and emergency rooms.
The next-generation hemostatic agent is being developed primarily to be used by navy and emergency medical professionals, although its simplicity suggests it could turn into extra widespread sooner or later, permitting at-home utilization.
Bleeding is the number one cause of potentially survivable deaths within the first jiffy or hours after critical damage, particularly in fight or distant wilderness settings the place medical evacuations can take valuable hours.
In the sector, paramedics may apply the spray to gunshot wounds, car-wreck accidents, falls, or different accidents to purchase the transport groups sufficient time to get the affected person to hospital services.
Scientists at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) invented the wonderful spray-on powder that within the blink-of-an-eye transforms right into a gentle, versatile gel when it touches blood, in accordance to analysis printed within the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
The gel molds completely to the form of the wound, sealing it shut virtually instantly — even when the damage is deep, jagged or onerous to attain.
Traditional bandages and gauze can battle to stop blood circulate rapidly sufficient, significantly in chaotic or excessive circumstances like battlefields, pure disasters, traffic accidents, and at-home mishaps.
The new powder works due to a intelligent chemical response. In lower than a second, it turns into a powerful gel that seals the wound and helps blood clot fast.
Surprisingly, all these substances come from nature:
- Alginate, extracted from brown seaweed
- Gellan gum, a pure thickener made by bacterial fermentation.
- Chitosan, derived from the shells of crustaceans and bugs.
Together, they kind a compound known as AGCL. Alginate and gellan gum create the gel, whereas chitosan pulls in pink blood cells and platelets, making them clump collectively and stop the bleeding even sooner.
AGCL isn’t simply quick, it’s robust. The gel can soak up a whopping seven occasions greater than its personal weight in blood, making it appropriate for excessive bleeding.
It additionally has pure antibacterial therapeutic as an alternative of harming tissue. Even higher, it may be saved for up to two years at room temperature and nonetheless works in scorching, humid or harsh environments.
Research signifies 31,000 Americans die yearly from preventable bleeding, according to the CDC. Hemorrhage in fight is chargeable for 91.5% of doubtless survivable battlefield deaths, regardless of the blood type of the patient.
“The core of modern welfare is minimizing the loss of human life,” Kyusoon Park, a KAIST scientist who took half within the spray’s growth, mentioned in the official KAIST news site. “I started the research with a sense of mission to save even one more soldier. I hope this technology will be used as a life-saving technology in both national defense and private medical fields.”
The group hasn’t but introduced when the spray will turn into obtainable.