Texas Scientists Discover New Way to Heal Traumatic Injuries Using Clay

Biomedical engineers at Texas A&M University have uncovered the holy grail of stopping severe blood loss, and the answer is much more simple than you think.

Using the Earth to Stop Bleeding

What researchers discovered was that by mixing clay into injectable mixtures, they can cause blood to clot and reduce bleeding time by nearly 70%.

How does it work? Well, according to Texas A&M Biomedical Engineering Professor Dr. Akhilesh Gaharwar, traumatic injuries leading to severe blood loss can lead to something called "hemorrhagic shock."

Many patients die within one to two hours of injury. This critical period is often referred to as the 'golden hour.'

The response of the researchers was to invent a new way to stop bleeding following these massive injuries.

Inventing New Bandages

This led to the creation of something called injectable hemostatic bandages. These are essentially a collection of clay and other biomedical materials that speed up blood clots, stopping bleeding when traditional methods fail.

Human blood clots within six to seven minutes, according to Dr. Gaharwar, but with these new injectable bandages, that time is reduced to two minutes at most.

These bandages, no larger than a quarter, are meant to be applied by patients themselves following a critical injury. This then slows their bleeding and buys them time for medical personnel to arrive.

Once injected into an open wound, these bandages expand to a foam-like substance, stopping blood loss and locking in the healing particles to the severed blood vessels.

Healing Properties of Clay

Ancient civilizations like China, Egypt, and Greece would make a paste out of clay and water to mend open wounds and slow their bleeding. The problem, however, is that intense bleeding will simply wash away any clay mixture and pastes.

This prompted Dr. Gaharwar to develop a synthetic mixture with clay particles that are so small that they easily travel down to blood vessels without being swept away.

Advancements like these are always worth keeping an eye on as we may very well see these injectable bandages in mainstream trauma care in the years to come.