When I was younger, I loved Sci-Fi books and would read them all the time. Some of my favorite books were the Halo series, which tell a tale about humanity struggling to survive an alien invasion. I noticed that in all the books in the series, they mentioned the idea of medical foam, a substance that was in a can that they could spray into wounds. Once sprayed into the wound, the foam would disinfect while it expanded, which stopped bleeding. If only this invention existed in real life.
Except it did! It’s called the XStat, by RevMedx. The XStat is a large syringe filled with small sponges that contain a disinfectant. To use the product, all you have to do is place the nozzle on the wound and press on the plunger to inject the sponges into the wound. The sponges then expand and clot the site in a matter of seconds. This is extremely helpful since in most gunshot wounds, bleeding out is the main cause of death. As of right now, the XStat is marketed towards the military, but can also be used in any emergency situation. Who knew that such a great idea could come from a Sci-Fi book for children?
What an incredible concept! As medicine moves forward who knows what is around the bend?! It is true that bleeding out is one of the largest contributors to death by a gun shot. I wonder if the Halo series gave scientists the idea for the remarkable medicine lol. Thanks for the article!
Anything that will support our troops on the battlefield gets my support. It’s awesome that this idea was also in the Halo books! Hopefully our military is able to put this to good use.
This product is a fantastic idea and so helpful for many people! Do the sponges slowly disintegrate after time while the skin heals again, or is it just a temporary fix until you can get to a hospital? Either way, there will be a lot of people whose lives can be saved by this innovation.
Medically, this is fascinating to me. It makes me wonder what it is about the sponges that causes the clotting? Do the sponges themselves act a clot, or is there some chemical on them that triggers rapid coagulation? In addition to being used in the military context, this could also be really helpful in trauma departments, ERs, and on ambulances.
Modern medicine is always on the brink of something new. This is such an interesting product and I agree that there are many different areas that it could be used. Think about lives that could be saved by incorporating this into all aspects of healthcare. Thanks for sharing about this new product!