7 Feb 2023 • Foreign objects that have accidentally been swallowed by patients, especially children, and become lodged in the airway or food route are a common occurrence for ENT doctors. The majority of these items, including coins and whistles, may be removed using regular forceps. However, these forceps are unable to pick up spherical and slick things like marbles. In order to pass through the stomach and exit with stool, such things are typically pushed down to the abdomen. If this does not happen doctors have to remove the object surgically. A ENT surgeon recently received a patent for a simple yet inventive device that can remove slippery and rounded foreign items from the oesophagus that conventional forceps are unable to remove. The device was created by Dr. Sudip Das, professor of ENT at Medical College Hospital Kolkata, and is ready to be made commercially available following the grant of a patent by the Government of India. The ENT surgeon worked on the design for almost two and a half years. "To attain design perfection, the instrument design required to be modified at least eight to nine times during the clinical trial. Once this was accomplished, I submitted a patient application in 2016. I am already in discussion with a device manufacturer to make it available to the ENT community," Das said. The device includes a tiny spoon-like head that can grasp spherical, slick objects. The handle is somewhat similar of a pair of forceps. "Das has created a simple, innovative instrument that is practical from both an economic and professional standpoint" said MCHK's ENT director, Professor Dr. Saumendra Nath.

Source: ET Healthworld| Read full story