Invention:
This technology is a small silicon item that is designed to fit in blood vessels to stop blood loss by plugging the vessels to allow for ligation of the vessel during surgical procedures. Prototypes of two durometers have been made. These plugs will come in slightly varied sizes to allow them to fit in any vessel.
Background:
The World Health Organization estimates that 234.2 million surgical procedures are performed every year worldwide, with around 50 million of those procedures happening within the United States during recorded years. One of the main problems that is faced during surgery is blood loss of the patient. When a patient loses too much blood during surgery, it can result in permanent organ damage or even organ failure. Therefore, it is important to prevent blood loss during surgical procedures.
Current techniques to stop blood loss during surgeries is to use clamps on the bleeding site; however, there are some sites that are unable to be easily clasped. Bleeding can also be stopped by ligation and suture of the bleeding vessels, which takes around five minutes for each vessel. This technology could assist in the ligation process by plugging the vessels to allow work on ligation one at a time. These plugs will help greatly reduce blood loss of surgery patients and are also small, versatile, and cost-effective solutions to this issue.
Applications:
- Plug blood vessels during surgery
- Prevent surgical blood loss
Advantages:
- Small
- Cost-effective
- Variable sizes to fit on any vessel
- Allows for ligation process to occur
