(Press-News.org) Uncontrolled bleeding during surgery remains one of the deadliest medical emergencies. Injuries to internal organs such as the liver or spleen are especially dangerous because bleeding is difficult to control and often life-threatening. To tackle this challenge, researchers at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) have developed a composite bioabsorbable hemostatic sponge that can rapidly halt bleeding inside the body.
Conventional hemostatic agents often fail to adhere firmly to the bleeding site or remain in the body without degrading, which can cause secondary complications. To address this, the research team combined mussel adhesive protein with decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) to develop a composite hemostatic sponge that offers both strong tissue adhesion and biocompatible biodegradability.
When applied to a bleeding site, the sponge quickly absorbs blood and firmly adheres to tissues, enhancing hemostatic performance. Once hemostasis is achieved, the material naturally degrades and is absorbed in the body, while the exposed dECM supports tissue recovery. By activating the body’s intrinsic coagulation pathways, dECM helps accelerate blood clotting and promote wound stabilization.
In an anticoagulated liver injury model (warfarin-treated), the sponge adhered strongly to the injured tissue surface and demonstrated highly effective hemostatic performance. As a result, bleeding time was significantly reduced and blood loss markedly decreased. Compared to conventional hemostatic materials, the sponge also induced less inflammation and tissue damage, while promoting enhanced wound stabilization during the early stages of healing.
Beyond solving the limitations of poor adhesion and non-degradability in current hemostatic agents, this work demonstrates a new way to safely and effectively manage internal organ bleeding. “This composite sponge can stop bleeding quickly and safely even in severe internal injuries that were previously difficult to control,” said Professor Hyung Joon Cha of POSTECH, who led the study. “By reducing the need for additional surgeries and supporting faster recovery, it has the potential to greatly improve patient care.”
This study was led by Professor Hyung Joon Cha (Department of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH) and Professor Jinah Jang (Department of Mechanical Engineering and Convergence IT Engineering, POSTECH), with graduate student Hyegyo Cha (Department of Chemical Engineering, POSTECH). The findings were recently published online in Advanced Healthcare Materials, a leading international journal in the field of biomaterials. The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (Ministry of Science and ICT) and the Alchemist Project (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy).
END
A bioadhesive sponge inspired by mussels and extracellular matrix offers a new way to stop internal bleeding
2025-10-15
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Poorer health linked to more votes for Reform UK, 2024 voting patterns suggest
2025-10-14
Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research.
The findings should prompt policy-makers of all political stripes to step up efforts to improve public health and tackle health inequalities, suggest the researchers.
Reform UK secured 14% of votes in last year’s UK general election, winning five of the English constituency seats available. And in May this year, it won a substantial number of council seats in local authority elections ...
Loneliness and social isolation linked to heightened risk of death in those with cancer
2025-10-14
Loneliness and social isolation are linked to a heightened risk of death from cancer as well as from all causes among those with the disease, finds a pooled data analysis of the available research published online in the open access journal BMJ Oncology.
Globally, new cases of cancer are projected to rise to 35 million, and associated deaths to 18.5 million by 2050, note the researchers.
Loneliness is relatively common among people with cancer, and while loneliness is associated with various health issues, including cognitive ...
Ditch ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach to women’s running shoes, manufacturers urged
2025-10-14
Sports footwear manufacturers need to ditch the ‘shrink it and pink it’ approach to women’s running shoes, because this is failing to differentiate their distinct anatomical and biomechanical needs across the life course from those of men, concludes a small qualitative study published in the open access journal BMJ Open Sports & Exercise Medicine.
Female-, rather than male-based, designs might not only boost women runners’ comfort, but also enhance injury prevention, and their performance, say the researchers.
Over the past 50 years, manufacturers have invested billions of dollars on developing running shoes that can prevent injury, maximise comfort, ...
Domestic abusers forge ‘trauma bonds’ with victims before violence begins
2025-10-14
Study outlines tactical playbook deployed by male abusers to “weaponise love” based on in-depth interviews with victims.
Current therapeutic approaches should move away from “victim pathology” and focus on “perpetrator strategy”, argues researcher.
Before going on to commit violence, domestic abusers use a mix of intense affection and emotional cruelty, combined with tales of their own childhood trauma, to generate a deep psychological hold that can feel like an “addiction” according to some victims.
A new study by a University of Cambridge criminologist ...
UK food needs radical transformation on scale not seen since Second World War, new report finds
2025-10-14
Rapid and urgent action on food is needed if the UK is to reboot its flagging economy, save the NHS billions, ensure national food security, and meet climate commitments, according to a new report.
The Roadmap for Resilience: A UK Food Plan for 2050, calls for radical transformation, at a scale and pace not seen since the Second World War. It says if we do not act now, change will be forced upon us by increasing pressures and the UK will lurch from crisis to crisis, including from food price shocks, climate disasters and weakening economic productivity.
Acting now however, allows the UK to decide its own future, and must include ...
New AI tool makes medical imaging process 90% more efficient
2025-10-14
HOUSTON – (Oct. 14, 2025) – When doctors analyze a medical scan of an organ or area in the body, each part of the image has to be assigned an anatomical label. If the brain is under scrutiny for instance, its different parts have to be labeled as such, pixel by pixel: cerebral cortex, brain stem, cerebellum, etc. The process, called medical image segmentation, guides diagnosis, surgery planning and research.
In the days before artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), clinicians performed this crucial yet painstaking and time-consuming task by hand, but over the past decade, U-nets ⎯ a type of ...
Nitrogen-fortified nanobiochar boosts soil health and rice productivity
2025-10-14
A new study in Biochar reveals that nitrogen-fortified nanobiochar could significantly improve soil fertility and rice yields while reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. Researchers from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, India, found that combining a reduced nitrogen fertilizer dose with nanobiochar enhanced both soil properties and crop performance in nitrogen-deficient soils.
Nanobiochar, biochar particles engineered at the nanoscale, has attracted attention for its porous ...
Generative art enhances virtual shopping experience
2025-10-14
ITHACA, N.Y. – Art infusion theory – the idea that displaying art in retail settings can positively impact consumer behavior – can be applied to the metaverse with similar results, a Cornell design researcher has shown.
Employing algorithm-fueled generative art, So-Yeon Yoon, professor of human centered design at Cornell University, found that the installation in a virtual store enhanced perceptions of exclusivity and aesthetic pleasure for both mass-market and luxury retailers.
“When we think about art, we think it’s more closely aligned with the luxury market,” ...
Fluid-based laser scanning for brain imaging
2025-10-14
Darwin Quiroz is exploring new frontiers in miniature lasers with major biomedical applications.
When Quiroz first started working with optics as an undergraduate, he was developing atomic magnetometers. That experience sparked a growing curiosity about how light interacts with matter, an interest that has now led him to a new technique in optical imaging.
Quiroz, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, is co-first author of a new study that demonstrates how a fluid-based optical device known as an electrowetting prism can be used to steer lasers at high speeds for advanced imaging applications.
The ...
Concordia study links urban heat in Montreal to unequal greenspace access
2025-10-14
Trees are essential to cooling down cities. However, a study by Concordia researchers at the Next Generation Cities Institute and the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre shows how tree distribution influences how some residents benefit more from them than others.
In a paper published Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, the authors studied the layout of Montreal’s vegetation — its trees, shrubs and grass — and compared it to daytime temperature readings on the ground, or land surface.
Using ...