Dean Hemant Deshmukh, an interventional radiologist, thought about the device while repairing the narrowed blood vessels around the small intestine. Cardiologists repair narrowed vessels around the heart, and interventional radiologists are trained to similarly repair vessels in other parts of the body such as the brain, lungs, legs, and abdomen, among others, to prevent strokes and gangrene.
“The self-expanding, blood-flow resistant device we designed is about an idea that is taking shape,” Deshmukh said. “As interventional radiologists, we treat arteries and veins by opening or closing them as the situation requires,” he said.
What is not very well known is that plaque accumulation affects not only the vessels of the heart, but even the vessels of the abdomen. When the superior mesenteric artery that supplies blood to the small intestine develops blockages, the patient begins to suffer from “abdominal angina.” “The patient develops this angina every time he eats. As a result, they develop a fear of food and avoid it, leading to a 10 to 20 kg weight loss, ”he said. It is this connection between blocked mesenteric artery, cybophobia, and weight loss that he, along with Dr. Krantikumar Rathod, worked on. “We feel that we can narrow the mesenteric artery in morbidly obese people by introducing a stent-like device that would trigger weight loss,” he said. The narrowed artery induces cybophobia, which, in turn, leads to weight loss. Doctors applied for the patent in April 2016 and obtained it earlier this month. The device they designed is 8mm in diameter, shaped like an hourglass, and is between 15mm and 20mm long. “Now we have to design the delivery system, make prototypes and plan animal studies,” he said. These steps must be followed prior to human trials.