After reading about doctors who become heroes for spending some time in jail while being innocent, and doctors who intentionally fake critical evidence in scientific research, it is refreshing to read about an Indian doctor inventing a device that could help in endoscopic surgeries the world over:
Jaipur-based surgeon Atul Kumar’s patented invented device could potentially reduce the risk involved in endoscopic surgeries - a minimally invasive surgery employed to operate such vital organs as the brain, spine and uterus. It also appears to have the potential to help doctors decide whether to go in for a hysterectomy, or uterus-removal surgery, which many gynaecologists say account for the bulk of operations on women in India.
Dr Kumar says he has buyers interested in producing the device. “All I can say now is, I have licensed the apparatus to medical companies in the US, but contracts with the company prevent me from mentioning their names,” he said.
The invention is likely to reduce the number of hysterectomies on women in India. He has already got a patent in India, and has applied for patents in the US and UK. I'm not medically knowledgeable enough to know if this will also help surgeons like Rambodoc who operate in challenging cases like hunchbacks, but I sure do hope this will make life easier for both surgeons and patients!
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Mahendra,
The linked article is a typically poorly researched and fleshed out product of the media. It does not even say in what operations the device is supposed to be used for and what fluid is being measured for pressures. After reading it a couple of times, I think it is an irrigating device used for hysteroscopic procedures that remove the lining of the uterus (called TCRE). I don’t know from the article exactly in what way the device is a change from what is available, so wouldn’t comment on that, but one thing to underline is this:
Indian surgeons work under great stress and limitations, and cost issues plague most of us. In order to provide modern surgeries to poorer patients, they have improvised all the time and created low-cost devices that cost next to nothing. Let me just give you one simple example: in laparoscopic (key-hole) surgeries, organs are taken out of the keyholes using plastic bags (called endobags) that cost around $100–200 each. Indian surgeons use simple plastic bags or ziplocs and sterilise them, each costing exactly nothing to the patient.
Thanks for the article!
Oh, and by the way, hysteroscopic procedures are a new class of endoscopic operations that use cameras and instruments placed inside the vagina and the uterus and not making any cuts on the bellies. Tumors, polyps and bleeding uterine lining can be removed without any significant trauma to the body.
Rambodoc: thanks for the comments. I would think that the article appears poorly researched (or edited) because it is in a webzine intended for the general public. As long as there’s no authenticity debate and given the fact that the device is already licensed to US companies for manufacturing — I’m happy!
Thanks for the example of how low-cost innovative techniques are being used by Indian doctors.