- The formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the legs or Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), can lead to life threatening complications.
- Scientists have come up with a device that can facilitate flow of blood from the veins in the legs thus preventing DVT.
- The device can bring relief to patients affected by prolonged immobility, bed ridden state, post-operative immobilization, paralysis of legs, a large number of whom are affected by DVT causing pain, swelling, redness, warmth and engorged surface veins.
- The detachment of the clot and its transport to the arteries carrying impure blood to the lungs can cause ‘pulmonary artery embolism’, a potentially life-threatening complication.
- A team from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum (SCTIMST) has developed a device for the prevention of DVT.
- Such devices which are so far imported cost between 2 lakh to 5 lakh rupees whereas the device developed by SCTIMST team can be placed in the market for less than 1 lakh rupees.
- The newly developed device works by compressing the veins in the legs in sequence so that the flow of blood from the veins in the legs is facilitated.
- The compression pressure is set in such a way that the veins are compressed but not the arteries.
- It is equipped with closed loop monitoring of compression pressure and also has controls through valves which are driven by an electronic circuit.
- A dedicated software and a control circuit are provided in the device to ensure that safe compression levels are always maintained.
- The device is also equipped with a power supply back-up in case of power failure.
