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.

Comments

I have a better idea to stop the bleeding!

[eihab]

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.