Technology advances in every domain of the world and gives solutions to the rising new difficulties. Recently, a 62-year-old man had a blood clot in his left lung lobe, and a deep vein in his left leg was treated with an artificial intelligence (AI) device, raising new hope for the use of technology in the treatment of medical conditions.

The credit goes to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, Haryana. This is the first hospital in India to have adopted AI-driven technology. The device named ‘Penumbra Flash 12 F Catheter’ is an AI device that is used to remove blood clots. It targets the blood clots that stop blood flow, lessens blood loss during surgeries, diminishes intricacies such as anemia, and also speeds up patient recovery.

According to the Medanta Hospital, the first patient treated with this technology was a 62-year-old man named Narendra Singh, who was a pilot. He had a clot in his left lung and left leg. He reached the emergency room with sudden leg pain and swelling. He had severe deep-vein thrombosis and a non-obstructive clot in his left lung lobe. By using the Penumbra Flash 12 F Catheter the clots were removed and given instantaneous relief from pain and swelling.

This procedure was completed by Dr. Tarun Grover, who said that the patient was discharged within 2 days with follow-up treatment instructions. He also elucidated that this procedure was completed with local anesthesia, and the patient was awake to see the process for himself.

Dr. Rajiv Parakh, the chairman of Peripheral Vascular and Endovascular Sciences at Medanta, said that the earlier procedures that were used in the treatment caused a lot of blood loss and required extended recovery. The traditional catheter machine did not distinguish between clots and blood. So, there is a need for blood transfusions after the surgery. To avoid blood loss, sometimes the procedure is completed in stages. With this AI technology, the device can identify the blood and suck out only the clots, leading to less blood loss, a successful surgery, and a patient's recovery in less time.

Medanta Hospital, since July, has treated 25 patients with pulmonary embolism, which is a blood clot in the blood vessels of the lung. It restricts blood flow, lowers oxygen levels in the lungs, and increases the blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries. The hospital has also started a program called PERT (Pulmonary Embolism Intervention and Response Team) to create awareness of this condition. The Division of Vascular and Endovascular Sciences of Gurugram’s Medanta organized a conference named “Pulmonary Embolism: What is known and What We Need to Know: State-of-the-Art Treatment and Scientific Updates.”

Reference:

1. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17400-pulmonary-embolism

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina)