New Delhi :
Scientists have developed a new minimally invasive method that can improve exercise ability and quality of life for lung patients. The method involves implantation of tiny coils into the lungs that will help patients with emphysema that limits their ability to breathe deeply, resulting from progressive destruction of the air sacs of their lungs.
How do these coils work?
These coils are intended to improve elastic properties of lungs to prevent collapse of the airways, allowing patients to exhale more completely. That too comes with minimal invasion into the body.
For this study, 315 patients were taken into consideration between December 2012 and November 2015 in Europe and US.
With over 75 per cent of study participants experiencing severe symptoms yet having a pattern of emphysema not allowing them to be candidates for surgery or experimental valve treatment, those patients had few therapeutic options short of lung transplantation, researchers said.
Based on the exercises in the study conducted, and it was found that patients who received coils showed a modest improvement in walking distance at 12 months, while the usual care group declined in function over the same time period.
Patients receiving coils reported dramatic improvement in their quality of life. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
