DASA Competition: Novel Technology for Intervening in Non-Compressible Haemorrhage

DASA submissions are welcome from the private sector, academia and Public Sector Research Establishments (PSRE’s). DASA will examine the legal status of organisations prior to placement of any contract or agreement. In most cases there are no nationality restrictions, however DASA individual competition documents will detail any necessary restrictions.

Projects should aim to start in April 2026, with a project duration equal to or less than 48 months.

Total funding available is up to £1.5m (excluding VAT). Several proposals may be funded. Your proposal should not exceed the total budget.

Advances in the pre-hospital care of NCH have largely centred upon increasing the availability to deliver blood products to the bleeding patient in order to sustain the patient’s circulation and prevent catastrophic deterioration.

Whilst desirable, such solutions do not address the underlying haemorrhage and are not always sustainable. Development of novel devices to arrest NCH remains a comparatively under-exploited area of innovation but is conceptually attractive as such therapies may lessen the requirement for transfusion by directly arresting haemorrhage and preserving the patient’s circulating blood volume during evacuation to a surgical facility.

Given the austere nature of the setting, and the need to address bleeding as soon as possible, such devices should ideally be operable by non-physicians and deployable as soon as it is safe to do so, as close to point of injury as possible.

Such NCH devices should be exploitable for use in civil settings where traumatic haemorrhage threatens life. In the same manner that the availability of extremity tourniquets has become commonplace amongst NHS ambulance services, NCH is a leading cause of death in civilian major trauma, with those affected by penetrating injury leading to major vessel disruption or internal organ failure.

Notably, whilst still uncommon, knife crime offences remain comparatively high (50,500 in England and Wales in the 2023-24 period, compared to series low of 26,500 in 2014-15; ‘Knife crime statistics England and Wales’ and are increasing in frequency in urban centres within the UK. The criticality of early intervention by non-specialist users is equally pertinent in the civilian context as it is in the military one. This dual-use requirement should be considered when submitting to the competition.

We are seeking proposals for novel innovations that intervene to stop non-compressible bleeding. In this case ‘novel’ refers to products currently between TRL 2-4. Products can start anywhere in the TRL 2-4 range and can progress as far as feasible within the timeframe of the project. We expect funded products to progress by one or more TRLs by project end.

We are seeking engineering technology-driven, design-led solutions aimed at device-enabled control of haemorrhage. We encourage solutions that exploit and integrate existing technologies or approaches used or developed in non-healthcare sectors that could be re-oriented for the NCH challenge. For example:

• civil engineering
• hydraulic engineering
• pipeline maintenance and repair
• textiles
• materials and biomaterials science
• mechanical manipulation and instrument technology
• void engineering
• adaptive morphology
• robotics
• novel locomotion
• navigation
• sensing and modelling

We also welcome novel proposals that can readily translate contemporary unimplementable in-hospital solutions for use in the unique operating environment of the pre-hospital, pre-physician domain, close to point of injury. We particularly welcome submissions which will bring together applicants from disparate disciplines and sectors to develop novel devices.

We are not seeking to support innovations that have already progressed beyond TRL 4, i.e. we are not seeking devices developed to the extent that they have been assessed against comparator therapies using a validated model or simulation or where the developer is ready to obtain current Good Manufacturing Process compliance (TRL 5). Nor are we seeking to support solutions that are incremental advances of existing devices designed for pre-hospital management of NCH (at any stage of device maturation through pre-clinical to clinical evaluation).

Proposals based around novel haemostatic materials alone are not eligible unless incorporating a delivery technology that permits the introduction and sustained application of the material to a bleeding uncompressible structure (organ, vessel). Proposals using haemostatic materials based around manual packing of wounds, or blind instillation of haemostatic gels, liquids and other agents down wound tracks or into surface wounds are out of scope.

Proposals can be focussed around a type or anatomical zone of NCH and do not have to be designed for use against all NCH varieties, though proposals which can address more than one type of NCH (e.g. abdominal and thoracic bleeding) are welcomed.

NCH solutions must be deployable close to the point of injury and usable by non-physician medical providers in both combat and civilian settings. The device should incorporate design features that minimise the likelihood of iatrogenic trauma during application (mechanical damage and disruption to local structures, organs and tissues), minimises interruption of blood flow to non-injured structures, organs and tissues, integrates with existing workflows of casualty treatment, and does not threaten or complicate subsequent definitive surgery or standard patient management.

Solutions that incorporate novel detection, localisation or imaging technologies to identify the source of haemorrhage are within scope if the core capability of the device includes haemostatic attributes that can halt non-compressible haemorrhage. Devices where the design attributes are clearly weighted toward detection are out of scope.

Interventions that involve the development of pharmaceutical drugs or medicinal products are excluded from this competition.

If you are uncertain of the relevance of your innovation, it is strongly recommended that you contact your local DASA Innovation Partner to discuss your idea. You can initiate this through the submission of a Contact DASA Form by following instructions on the Contact a DASA Innovation Partner page if you do not already have an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

Your local Innovation Partner will initially explore the suitability of your idea within the context of the requirements of the competition. With specific interest in the aspects covered within the Competition Scope section.

Your local Innovation Partner will, if required, also advise you on the submission of an Innovation Outline (IO), primarily used to further explore the relevance of your idea to the competition.

You must submit this IO through the Submission Service regardless of an established relationship with your local Innovation Partner.

To submit an IO:

• log in to the submission service
• select the service category DASA Innovation Outline
• from the service name select Innovation Outline: Novel Technology for Intervening in Non-Compressible Haemorrhage
• complete the form

Your local Innovation Partner will be able to advise you on the IO content. The competition closes at 12:00 Midday on 04 November 2025 (GMT). DASA cannot guarantee a response to an IO received after 21 October 2025.

You are also welcome to contact Innovate UK Business Connect’s Health team or our Security and Defence team.