WASHINGTON (TIP): A new pocket-sized syringe that can seal gunshot wounds within just 15 seconds has been developed by scientists. The syringe Called XStat, developed by Oregon-based RevMedx, injects specially coated sponges into wounds. The device could boost survival and spare injured soldiers from additional pain by plugging wounds faster and more efficiently than gauze, ‘Popular Science’ reported. “That is what we pictured as the perfect solution: something you could spray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops,” said John Steinbaugh, former US army special operations medic.

The team used ordinary sponges and cut them into 1cm circles. They then injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury. “The bleeding stopped. Our eyes lit up. We knew we were onto something,” said Steinbaugh. Researchers settled on a sponge made from wood pulp and coated with chitosan, a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance found in shrimp shells. They added Xshaped markers that make each sponge visible on an x-ray image in order to ensure that no sponges are left inside the body accidentally, the report said. The sponges expand to fill the entire wound cavity in just 15 seconds, creating enough pressure to stop heavy bleeding.