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Imagine a life-saving spray that instantly stops severe bleeding.
That’s exactly what researchers in South Korea have developed — and it could change how wounds are treated on the battlefield, and in ambulances and emergency rooms.
The next-generation hemostatic agent is being developed primarily for use by military and emergency medical professionals, though its simplicity suggests it may become more widespread in the future, allowing at-home usage.
Bleeding is the number one cause of potentially survivable deaths in the first few minutes or hours after serious injury, especially in combat or remote wilderness settings where medical evacuations can take precious hours.
In the field, paramedics could apply the spray to gunshot wounds, car-wreck injuries, falls, or other accidents to buy the transport teams enough time to get the patient to hospital facilities.
The spray-on powder being developed by scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), promises to stop heavy bleeding in as little as one second, saving soldiers’ lives on the battlefield, along with civilian accident victims. KAISTScientists at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) invented the amazing spray-on powder that in the blink-of-an-eye transforms into a soft, flexible gel when it touches blood, according to research published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.
The gel molds perfectly to the shape of the wound, sealing it shut almost immediately — even if the injury is deep, jagged or hard to reach.
Traditional bandages and gauze can struggle to stop blood flow quickly enough, particularly in chaotic or extreme conditions like battlefields, natural disasters, traffic accidents, and at-home mishaps.
The new powder works due to a clever chemical reaction. In less than a second, it becomes a strong gel that seals the wound and helps blood clot fast.
The team of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) scientists who researched and developed the life-saving spray are Professor Steve Park (upper left circle) and Professor Sangyong Jon (upper right circle). Standing (left to right) are President Kwang-Hyung Lee, Ph.D candidate Youngju Son and Ph.D candidate Kyusoon Park. KAISTSurprisingly, all these ingredients come from nature:
- Alginate, extracted from brown seaweed
- Gellan gum, a natural thickener made through bacterial fermentation.
- Chitosan, derived from the shells of crustaceans and insects.
Together, they form a compound called AGCL. Alginate and gellan gum create the gel, while chitosan pulls in red blood cells and platelets, making them clump together and stop the bleeding even faster.
AGCL isn’t just fast, it’s tough. The gel can absorb a whopping seven times more than its own weight in blood, making it suitable for extreme bleeding.
It also has natural antibacterial healing instead of harming tissue. Even better, it can be stored for up to two years at room temperature and still works in hot, humid or harsh environments.
Research indicates 31,000 Americans die annually from preventable bleeding, according to the CDC. Hemorrhage in combat is responsible for 91.5% of potentially survivable battlefield deaths, no matter the blood type of the patient.
“The core of modern welfare is minimizing the loss of human life,” Kyusoon Park, a KAIST scientist who took part in the spray’s development, said in the official KAIST news site. “I started the research with a sense of mission to save even one more soldier. I hope this technology will be used as a life-saving technology in both national defense and private medical fields.”
The organization hasn’t yet announced when the spray will become available.
English (US)