Now, expandable sponges that can seal gunshot wounds

Researchers have developed a new type of dressing, Xstat Dressing, which will allow medics to easily dress gunshots or other deep wounds on the battlefield.

The dressing was inspired by the foam used to fix flat tires, the Verge reported.

Former medic and RevMedx co-founder John Steinbaugh told Popular Science that's what they pictured as the perfect solution: something they could spray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops.

Xstat uses small, expandable sponges, which are standard medical sponges, compressed and coated with a hemostatic agent called chitosan, which take just 15 seconds to expand once they're in the wound.

The dressing helps with clotting and slowing blood flow, while providing enough pressure that manual pressure is not needed.

The Xstat is being developed in 30 millimeter and 12 millimeter versions so medics can tackle both large and small wounds.