Injectable Sponges Approved For Public Use

Two years ago we reported on the injectable sponge, a concept that was designed to help save lives on the battlefield. The concept is a simple one. Upon receiving a gunshot wound, you can use the syringe to inject the tiny sponges into the wound. Once in the wound, the XSTAT 30’s sponges will expand and absorb in total around a pint of blood, in the process blocking the wound and reducing the blood loss from the wound. While authorised for military use the XSTAT was not authorised for use outside of the battlefield, that was until now.

Originally designed to help combat wounds such as shrapnel or bullets in areas of the body where traditional approaches may not be viable, such as in the groin or the armpit, the XSTAT can treat any wound in a similar fashion.

With the XSTAT’s dressing usable for up to four hours it can be used as a quick reaction to a potentially fatal wound while the victim seeks further medical help. As a result, the XSTAT 30 has been cleared for “high risk for immediate, life-threatening, and severe hemorrhagic shock and non-compressible junctional wounds”, with the condition that emergency care for the wound can’t be retrieved immediately.

From the FDA’s ruling, the XSTAT 30 has not been approved for areas where traditional methods can be used, such as the chest, abdomen or tissue above the collarbone. The XSTAT could save hundreds of lives and for such a small device, I’m sure people will be grateful to the creators and the ones who can now use it.