Defensetech.org has an interesting little feature on new devices and technology to deal with bleeding limb injuries, some of which we have reported on in the past, including the bandage made from ground up shrimp shells (delish!). Here’s a little taste:
* One-handed tourniquets that soldiers can apply in seconds to wounded comrades…
* A pair of new bandage designs — one based on desiccants (like you find in the pockets of new coats) and another on crushed crustaceans — that encourage rapid clotting of wounds
Vandre again: “Since the beginning of the Afghanistan conflict, the Department of Defense has fielded two new bandaging technologies for stopping bleeding: the Chitosan Bandage, [made by] Hemcon, and QuickClot, [made by] Z-Medica. The Chitosan bandage is made of shrimp shells and sticks to the wounded area, sealing it off much like a tire patch. The QuickClot is made up of desiccant granules that physically adsorb the liquid from blood, thereby concentrating the clotting factors and encouraging rapid clotting to stop the bleeding.”
* A new medicine, developed by Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA), that helps organs survive temporary blood shortages
“The focus in this program is using the consequences of blood loss,” says DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker. “What we want to be able to do is protect the organs from the impact of oxygen loss and ensure that the wounded soldier can recover fully. What that allows us to do is it gives us more time to get the casualties to a hospital.”
* A sonic blood coagulator, another DARPA project
Walker: “We have another program that is looking at acoustic energy to stop bleeding — that is, deep bleeding, not in an extremity, not in some place where you can apply pressure. It’s called Deep Bleeder Acoustic Coagulation. It uses sound waves to encourage clotting. It’s a device that could be used by a layperson, a medic on the battlefield. It’s portable, light and automated.”
* Another clotting agent, Recombinant Activated Factor VII (RFVIIA), developed by AMD
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* New ways of freeze-drying replacement blood to facilitate transport and storage
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* A new container, developed by AMD, for transporting perishable replacement blood
This is good news, because soldiers need all the medgadgets they can get their hands on in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hopefully all these interesting innovations will start gushing out for the regular non-combatant bleeder as well.
Read the full feature here…
More here…