XStat

The XStat is a medical device for treating bleeding wounds that, in the past, would be treated by a bandage and pressure or could not be treated easily at all.

This is the picture. A man has just been shot and is bleeding from the bullet wound. Normally the best that could be done was to press a towel to the wound and hope that the man doesn't bleed to death. The XStat has moved beyond that. Instead of covering a wound it literally plugs it. The medic uses the device to inject sponges into the wound that expand and fill the cavity. These sponges also contain clotting agents that help the wound seal itself naturally, until better care can be attained.

When you think about the problem, aside from the personal aspect, it is really a very simple need. Plug a hole so that it doesn't leak. But for some reason it has been done in the same, unreliable way for hundreds of years. Put a band-aid on it, whatever size is needed and hope it works. The XStat design reworks the method of plugging that hole by creating something that works in reaction to the problem. The more bleeding, the more the sponges expand to better plug the hole.

The delivery method of the XStat is also worth of note. It is a device that anyone could use with relative security. It is, after all, just a syringe. You put the stuff in the hole and it stops the bleeding through its own mechanisms. Pretty simple. It doesn't require a complicated knowledge of correct bandaging of wounds in order to use. If your friend is shot on the battlefield you can stop his bleeding reliably without having to wait for a medic or an evac team. And you would be able to fix the wound better than medics could in the past anyway.