Many innovations in healthcare are being showcased at the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), taking place in Doha this week. One such innovation is the 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 the Qatar Science Club.
The Q Stent project was started by a doctor at Heart 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. The Q Stent acts as a stable sterile device to hold or prop the patient’s chest open, thereby maximizing 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 the risks of injuries and infection after such procedures.
Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Khulaifi, Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at 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 exactly 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 to this problem and came up with the design for the Q Stent. We have filed for patent rights for this invention with the GCC and IPT offices and believe it will help cardiac surgeons all over the world." Dr. Rashid Mazhar, Consultant in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Heart Hospital said the most common use for the device would be in pediatric heart surgery. "Children have much smaller rib cages and therefore the problem of their heart swelling after a long surgical procedure is more prevalent," he explained. We have made Q Stents in several sizes so that they are suitable in pediatric and adult surgeries. I feel strongly that the Q Stent will help many cardiac surgeons in the future." The Q Stent project is being supported by the HMC Office for the Academic Health System who recently engaged a local firm to file for the patent for this important innovation. The Qatar Academic Health System links health, education and research by joining globally recognised healthcare facilities, medical education institutions and research programs. Within HMC they encourage and support education, research and development projects and nurture innovation.