SEALANT FOR COLLAPSED LUNGS WINS ISRAELI INNOVATION PRIZE:Vigor Medical Technologies, makers of a system that can seal internal and external wounds without suturing, bandages, or tape, was named Israel's most innovative company by Ofir Akunis, minister of science, technology and space. Vigor's wound repair system is designed for use in cases of thoracic trauma, a chest injury that can cause the lungs to collapse. As many as 20% of soldiers injured in battle die from collapsed lungs - but if treated within an hour, the injured person has an 80% chance of survival. The company's sealant devices can be carried in the field by medical personnel and administered in case of an emergency. (Times of Israel)

NEW ISRAELI BANDAGE STOPS ‘UNCONTROLLABLE' BLEEDING: A new Israeli-developed bandage aims to save lives in cases of severe bleeding, where conventional treatment procedures could fail to stop a deadly hemorrhage. Yuval Yaskil, owner and CEO of developers Core Scientific Creations (CSC), says the WoundClot bandage not only stops severe bleeding within minutes - without the need to apply pressure on the wound - but also enhances the blood's natural process of clotting. Just stopping the blood from leaving the patient's body is not enough, Yaskil explained, as it can sometimes take hours before a patient reaches a hospital. WoundClot was chemically crafted to stop bleeding. Dr. Shani Gross, CTO of CSC, explained that WoundClot looks like any other bandage, but can "absorb enormous amounts of blood and then it transforms into a gel state." In fact, the more blood absorbed in the bandage, the quicker the clotting process will proceed. Video footage of a trial surgery documented and edited by CSC, shows how a 10 by 10 centimeter strip of WoundClot stops a liver wound from bleeding in less than three minutes. (Ha'aretz/J. Post)

TECHNION ISRAEL DEVELOPS SMALL PORTABLE ULTRASOUND SYSTEM: Prof. Yonina Eldar at Israel's Technion has developed an advanced ultrasound probe that eliminates the need for large ultrasound devices. With such a system, ultrasound scans can be performed in disaster areas or in developing countries with limited medical infrastructure. Uploading the scan results to a cloud enables a doctor to view the findings on a mobile device. Using a new algorithm, the data can be reduced at the initial scanning stage, so that it can be uploaded to a cloud without harming image quality and without loss of data. (Jewish Business News)