College student creates instant-healing gel to stop heavy bleeding
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A New York University student has cooked up a magic gel, which he says can stop even heavy bleeding — an invention that could make routine bandages obsolete.
Joe Landolina, 20, a NYU junior, says his Veti-Gel almost instantly closes and begins healing even major wounds to internal organs and key arteries.
“There’s really no way to quickly stop bleeding except to hold lots of gauze on a wound,” Landolina told The Post. “I thought if you could pour this gel into a wound, it would solidify and stop the bleeding.”
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Landolina created the substance with Isaac Miller, a 2013 NYU grad.
The lifesaving goo is an artificial version of something called the extracellular matrix, which makes up the connective tissue that helps hold animal bodies together.
“We use plant-derived versions of the polymers that make up your skin,” the whiz kid said. “If they go into a wound, they build on existing polymers. It’s like it tells your body to stop bleeding.”
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The aspiring scientist says he tested the stuff on rats and was able to stop bleeding instantly after slicing the rodents’ livers and carotid arteries.
After his rat experiments, Landolina moved on — to a slab of fresh pork loin — to create a video demonstration.
Click here to watch the video.
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On the video, he cuts a deep slice into the pork while it’s being injected with “real pigs blood,” he said.
The blood initially flows freely, but amazingly stops after Landolina applies the gel and a second liquid, which speeds coagulation, bringing the bloodshed to a sudden stop.
Landolina and Miller will next test the gel on larger living animals, like pigs and sheep, under the supervision of Dr. Herbert Dardik, a cardiovascular surgeon at Englewood (NJ) Hospital.
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