WASHINGTON: A new pocket-sized syringe that can seal gunshot wounds within just 15 seconds has been developed

by scientists. The syringe Called XStat, developed by Oregon-based RevMedx, injects specially c oated sponges into wounds. The device could boost survival and spare injured soldiers from additional pain by plugging wounds faster and more efficiently than gauze, 'Popular Science' rep orted. "That is what we pictured as the perfect solution: something you could sp ray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops," said John Steinbaugh, former US ar my special operations medic. The team used ordinary sponges and cut them into 1cm circles. They then injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury. "The bleeding stopped. Our eyes lit u p. We knew we were onto something," said Steinbaugh. Researchers settled on a sponge made from wood pulp and coated with chitosan, a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance found in shrimp shells. They added X-sha ped markers that make each sponge visible on an x-ray image in order to ensure t hat no sponges are left inside the body accidentally, the report said. The spong es expand to fill the entire wound cavity in just 15 seconds, creating enough pr essure to stop heavy bleeding.