Doha: Many innovations in healthcare are being showcased at World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH). One of them is Q Stent from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).
Q Stent is an innovation to be used in cardiac surgery and was invented by doctors at Heart Hospital, in collaboration with Qatar Science Club.
The Q Stent project was started by a doctor at the hospital looking for a solution to a problem that occurs in prolonged cardiac surgeries, where the heart expands and it is not possible to close the patient’s chest immediately.
Q Stent acts as a stable sterile device to hold or prop the patient’s chest open, maximising patient safety. It is expected to replace the currently used, hand-crafted, suboptimal solutions for stenting the sternum for delayed closure. Q Stent’s ergonomic design provides firm stenting of the sternum, with provision of maximum space for accommodating the swollen heart. Its solid block fabrication, without any moving parts, would decrease risks of injuries and infections after such procedures.
Dr Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Chair, Cardiothoracic, Heart Hospital, said: “Often the best innovations are when we can find a simple yet elegant solution to an every-day problem. With Q Stent that is what our team has invented. “All over the world doctors have a problem with the heart expanding after long surgeries and then having to try to come up with make-shift solutions to prop the patient’s chest open. Dr Rashid Mazhar decided to find a solution and came up with the design for Q Stent. We have filed for patent rights for it with the GCC and IPT offices and believe it will help cardiac surgeons all over the world.”
Dr Mazhar, Consultant, Cardiothoracic Surgery at the hospital, said the most common use of the device would be in paediatric heart surgery. “Children have much smaller rib cages and the problem of their heart swelling after a long surgical procedure is more prevalent,” he said.
“We have made Q Stents in several sizes so that they are suitable in paediatric and adult surgeries. I feel that Q Stent will help many cardiac surgeons in the future.”
The Peninsula
