Wound plug

A new device will save the lives of victims of stab wounds

Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+

When a person bleeds, having received a penetrating wound with a knife or other sharp object, it is important to provide pressure on the wound from the inside, and not just from above. The new device, developed by a student from the UK and intended for the police, ambulance crews and the military, consists of a mechanism for inserting a silicone plug into the wound and a drive with which it is inflated with air and stops bleeding.

Most often, the police are the first to arrive at the crime scene. If the knife is still in the wound, it is usually left until the arrival of doctors. This is done because it serves as a stopper to help prevent internal bleeding. But if the wound is open, it must be urgently "plugged". So it was with Joseph Bentley, a graduate of the Faculty of Industrial Design and Technology at Loughborough University, reports a press release from Student designs life-saving device that rapidly stops bleeding from knife wounds. Having survived a knife wound, he developed a REACT tool that can save the life of an attack victim.

The device consists of two components: a tamponade – a silicone sleeve that is inserted into the wound – and a drive connected to a valve on the tamponade and supplying air there. But before that, the user must select the appropriate body area on the LCD monitor of the device. After activation, the device quickly raises the air pressure to a level that will best stop bleeding in this place.

Then the drive is disconnected, and the inflated tamponade remains inside the wound until the ambulance arrives. It is not difficult to release air and take it out, unlike other devices that are used to stop bleeding.

So far, REACT exists in the form of a 3D prototype optimized for wounds in the armpit, groin and abdominal cavity. In the future, the device will be adapted for other zones, the air pressure settings will be improved, battery power will appear.

"I hope that one day all the rescue services will take it with them – the police, ambulance, even the military, but the main task is to bring this product to readiness as soon as possible," Bentley said.

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