PopSci's Best of What's New 2007

Personal Health
Vascutek Temporary Limb Salvage Shunt

SAVING SOLDIERS’ LIMBS

IN IRAQ, MANY TROOPS ultimately lose arms and legs not in combat but in the operating room, where severely injured limbs that have lost too much blood require amputation. Vascutek’s deceptively simple-looking shunt can be used on the battlefield to connect the ends of a severed blood vessel and restore blood flow to the injured limb until a surgeon can permanently repair it. The tube has a self-sealing membrane, so medics can stick a needle through it to administer drugs without any blood loss. And it’s the only shunt FDA-cleared for use in trauma settings because it’s so easy to use. Vascutek debuted the shunt in Iraq in February and hopes to introduce it to civilian medics next year. vascutek.com

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