The head of one of the country’s most prestigious medical schools, KEM Hospital in Mumbai’s Parel, recently earned a patent for a device that can control blood flow in such a way that one loses weight from the US Patent Office.
KEM’s Dean Dr Hemant Deshmukh, an interventional radiologist, thought of the device while fixing narrowed blood vessels around the small intestine.
According to a report by TOI, cardiologists fix narrowed vessels around the heart and interventional radiologists are trained to similarly fix vessels in other body parts such as the brain, lungs, legs and the abdomen, among others, to prevent strokes and gangrene.
Dr Deshmukh, who has performed thousands of interventional procedures, said that as interventional radiologists, doctors treat arteries and veins by opening up or closing them as the situation demands.
Moreover, it is not well known that plaque build-up not only affects the heart vessels but even the vessels in the abdomen. When the superior mesenteric artery that supplies blood to the small intestine develops blockages, the patient starts suffering from abdominal angina, said, Deshmukh.
Dr Deshmukh also stated that the patient develops this angina whenever he or she eats. Therefore, they develop a fear of food and avoid it, leading to 10 to 20 kg weight loss.
As per reports, the doctors applied for the patent in April 2016 and got it earlier this month. However, the device designed is 8mm in diameter, shaped like an hourglass, and is 15-20mm long.
Share
Tweet
