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Nanoparticle Infused Gauze Quickly Stanches Wounds
jackieduvall writes "Medical gauze has received its first upgrade since World War I. Chemists have infused it with nanoparticles derived from kaolin clay, which somehow give it an amazing ability to stop severe bleeding. It was developed when the Navy approached a team of inorganic chemists at the University of California Santa Barbara to solve a problem with QuikClot, a zeolite-based hemostatic agent that became way too hot and caused burns when it came in contact with water or blood. While performing blood clotting tests, they realized that kaolin clay, which has been used as a control for clotting experiments since the 1950s, could also be used as a first aid product."
There is a video demonstration alongside the article. It shows the gauze halting the bleeding from a pig's aorta. The blood isn't excessive, but if you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may want to skip the video.
http://science.slashdot.org/science/06/10/10/2024228.shtml
It doesn't say what happened to the pig. I have to hope there was a BBQ afterward.
Please us American versions of words. "Stanches?"
For Tampax!
How about stopping the war?
It's great that a lot of DOD investments make it to civilian use at some point (and I think this one will), but I think if we had a bigger research budget elsewhere we would have discovered/invented things without losing lives.
It's probably naive to think that we don't need a defense budget (which is not what I'm advocating), but maybe if we focused more on research and science to cure diseases etc. and not on trying to be better at killing people, the world might just be a better place.
Food for thought.
If you can't mod them join them.
Darn... I was so excited when I read that as shaolin clay.
alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls
So when our ancestors got wounds and rubbed dirt into them they had it right all along? Or is it they had it wrong, you only rub special dirt in, and only if the wound is severe?
Sounds like a gauze for celebration!
Medical factoid - kaolin and pectin are the substances that constitute the anti-diarrheal substance "Kaopectate" (hence the name.) Note that it doesn't really do anything but bind with water -- kind of a clay-like substance that will then give one more firm stools.
I think the modern kaopectate has modified its ingredients, but kaolin clay like substances are still available for medical use. Nice to see a new implementation of this technology, with the "nano" prefix thrown in for sexiness.
Slashdotter, ID #101. UIDs are in binary, right?
That's fine for people with blood, but what happens to those of us who are caffeine-based lifeforms?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Clay- all clay- is basically a mixture of kaolin, water, and larger particles (sand or "grog"- crushed clay bits.) Clays with a low percentage of kaolin and a high percentage of inclusions are low-fire clays, such as terra cotta, while a high percentage of kaolin is necessary for high-fire clays such as porcelin.
Porcelin clays are fired between three and four thousand degrees in order to vitrify- which means, to melt and fuse together. Glazes, which are based in sand and metal, vitrify at a lower temperature, which is why pots have two firings, the first to make them pots instead of shaped clay, and the second to decorate them.
Kaolin is not quite as common as dirt or sand but it is found all over the world and not too difficult to obtain. A good college ceramics department will have a barrel on hand.
The upshot of this, I guess, is that if you are foolish enough to stick your hand into a clay mixer, which is like a Kitchen Aid stand mixer on steroids, and get your hand torn off, sticking your hand into the barrel of kaolin dust would be amazingly good first aid.
Actually I am a lab rat in an elaborate plot to take over the world.
The blood isn't excessive, but if you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may want to skip the video.
Here's something that I've always wondered and never got an answer to. Why are some people bothered by the sight of blood? What's shocking about it? I really don't get it even a bit. Besides I always thought (my own) blood was kind of yummy.
You just got troll'd!
As if the military had no other reason to look into this.
Since when does grinding something small constitute nanotechnology?
I'd have to take such characterization with a grain of nano calcium chloride.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Being that kaolin clay binds with water and causes clotting, does this mean that this stuff will work on people who have clotting issues, such as those on blood thinning medications or hemophiliacs?
Is it just me, or did that seem like an advertisement for a company and their product, moreso than there being anything of substance? It isn't like this is groundbreaking chemistry either.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Now suspend it in a spray with liquid bandages and parents everywhere rejoice!
Cat litter and gauze.
I get areas of nasty dried skin on my feet and will happily set about cutting them off. Inevitably I cut too deep and bleed a little. Everywhere. First time I thought "oh crap"... but 100th or so time performing minor surgery, I don't give a shit.
Mind you, despite 3 years practise the missus still gets in a tizz as I sit stemming the bleed with tissue paper and/or superglue. Mostly because I'm making a mess on the carpet (I don't want to think about the row I'd get if I bled to death on the nice rugs).
Python coder | PyQt Applications | Writer
The last time I was deployed in Iraq, we were all issued Quikclot packs in our trauma bags; I'm sure that if I needed to use it, it would have worked fine. However, Quikclot causes pretty severe burns and pain when it's used; in addition, the hard 'clot' that is formed is a PITA for surgeons to remove.
In my personal trauma kit here at home, I use Celox:
http://www.celoxmedical.com/
It is chitosan-based but claims to not affect people with seafood-based allergies. It produces no heat and is removed easily by water irrigation. I am curious why the DoD has not moved towards this product; you can get the celox-infused gauze that works much the same as this kaolin-based product already. If any of you are EMTs or just interested in having a good hemostatic agent in your kit, you should look into Celox. When everything else is equal, the disadvantages of Quikclot make Celox the clear winner.
-b
No offense, but I've stopped responding to AC's.
I think the bigger news here, is that it was created by robot chemists!
Why would you want to take something with a grain of lime?
Yeah, the can dissect out some tiny vessels, but when you have a tumor, that's what you get.
Liver surgeons, and orthopods ( bone docs like me) would really like this.
..........FULL STOP.
"Don't tug on that, you never know what it might be attached to."
--Buckaroo Banzai to assisting doctor, while performing neurosurgery.
... they taste better when you eat them. :-)
Bruce Perens.
QuikClot works great. I have seen it used on soldiers with severe wounds in Iraq. Yeah, it can be painful, but its job is to save lives. You are already in pain from whatever trauma caused the amputation/sever bleeding, IED/EFP, AK47 round, etc... The last thing that has been on someones mind is that this stuff hurts.
This deployment (I'm still here as of Apr08) they issue HemCon. Their site is this http://www.hemcon.com/productstechnology/hemconbandageoverview.aspx
Says there they got rid of the whole burn causing issue.