Scientists at Penn State University have invented a wound care sponge that works in three ways at once: it stops bleeding, prevents the blood from "dissolving" the clot that forms too early, and kills bacteria in the wound.
For now this is an experimental sample. The team is now finalizing the composition and technology to achieve a prototype with reproducible properties, meaning that each subsequent sponge will be as reliable as the last.
The material has a wide variety of applications. But the very idea of a "smart bandage", which gradually performs three tasks at once, is one that has real life behind it on the battlefield and in the operating room.