When one thinks of Silicon Valley, we normally associate the area with the technology field. But now a physician from Mountain View, CA has invented a simple procedure that will remove blood clots. The procedure is safer than previous procedures that relied heavily on injecting the entire body with blood thinners. The new procedure is described as follows:

Invented by a Mountain View physician, the Trellis Peripheral Infusion System removes large clots in veins using balloons and blood thinners that are injected to only the clot area. Standard removal procedures for such clots, which involves injecting blood thinning medication throughout a patient’s body, have proved risky and ineffective in the past. But Trellis’ method makes it safer and quicker.

“For years, that condition has not hit a technology that could resolve the problem. I am a physician, so I see what needs to be addressed,” said Dr. Thomas Fogarty, who invented the Trellis device in 2005. “I develop things based on what is needed in the field of surgery.”

With blood clots killing some 300,000 people in the U.S. every year, this new procedure should prove to be a real life saver. Hopefully the procedure will start to be used across the country and prevent blood clots from taking more lives.

Comments welcome.

Source – Mercury News