DARPA Says New Injectable Foam Boosts Survival Rate for Victims of Internal Hemorrhaging
Posted on December 13, 2012
DARPA has announced in a press release that a foam-based product developed by Arsenal Medical could help save lives in the battlefield. DARPA says the foam can be injected into a wounded soldier on the battlefield to slow blood loss until the soldier can be transported to an appropriate medical facility.
DARPA says that with internal hemorrhaging injuries there is currently little that can be done to stanch bleeding before the patients reach treatment facilities. DARPA says, "internal wounds cannot be compressed the same way external wounds can, and tourniquets or hemostatic dressings are unsuitable because of the need to visualize the injury." Because of this blood loss from these types of wounds often leads to death from what would otherwise be potentially survivable wounds.
DARPA says the new foam is designed to be administered on the battlefield by a combat medic. They also say the foam is easily removable by doctors during surgical intervention once the soldier is inside an appropriate treatment facility. Some commenters are comparing the technology to Halo's fictional Biofoam on a PopSci article. Take a look:
- Fossil of Giant Freshwater Turtle Discovered
- Hubble Observes Stormy Weather on Jupiter
- Australian Spider Named After Marvel's Venom
- NASA's JWST Captures New Views of NGC 604
- Ancient Giant Sea Lizard Had Dagger-Like Teeth