Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web. Kevin Kelly on how technology evolves. New Bandages Latest in Healthcare Technology - High Tech Bandages and Band-Aids. ChitoGauze (Photograph courtesy of HemCon Medical Technologies, Inc.) HemCon Medical Technologies manufactures bandages and wound dressings that harness the power of the sea. The company's products use chitosan, a biopolymer made from a component in the exoskeletons of crab, shrimp and other crustacean exoskeletons. The positively charged chitosan attracts the negatively charged outer membranes of red blood cells; when the two come into contact, localized clotting occurs. HemCon's chitosan-coated bandages are already in use in Iraq; its latest product is ChitoGauze. Gecko Bandage (Photograph by Bob Langer and Jeff Karp, MIT) The ability of geckos to scale vertical surfaces comes from the special topography of their feet: nano-size hairs gives their feet an adhesive property.
QuikClot (Photograph courtesy of Z-Medica Corporation) The family of QuikClot products make use of kaolin clay, a natural blood-clotter. Ultrasound Device (Photograph courtesy of George K. Scaffold Bandage Electric Bandage. Aerogel: See-Through, Strong as Steel & Ligher than Air.