VarStiff Will Let Paramedics Quickly Immobilize Vulnerable Parts Of A Victim’s Body
The Spanish company Tecnalia has designed a novelty for paramedics, a smart material that, when exposed to a vacuum, stiffens to make a plastic-like mold. The fabric, dubbed VarStiff, looks like a super-slim, flexible mat with an attached air-pressure valve. Structurally a layer of VarStiff is surrounded by a plastic, air-filled sac, so when the operator switches on the pressure valve, the air is sucked out of the sac, and the fabric hardens. This material could allow paramedics to quickly immobilize parts of a victim’s body, like the neck and back, which may be vulnerable to permanent damage. Tecnalia reports that the new material, the insta-cast, could be launched into the market at the beginning of the next year.
Via:popsci.com
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