Opposed to traditional methods, endovascular removal of failing lower limb veins does not leave scars and has a short healing time. The procedure involves an optic fibre laser enter the vein and close the vessels from the inside. Though this method has numerous advantages, it requires great skill and composure from the physician.
“The human factor is unreliable. The process of closing the vein properly requires the right laser strength applied to the appropriate vein length. We’re tired, we perform a lot of operations, and there is a risk of removing the optic fibre too quickly or too slowly,” Marcin Feliga, MD said.
The winch device was designed and developed by Zortrax engineer Robert Klaczynski in cooperation with Feliga. The casing and numerous elements of the device were printed on the Zortrax M200 3D printer.
“The winch operates much like a ski lift. It removes the optic fibre from the vein with the same speed and over the same time and makes 100% sure that it is closed properly. The device has diametrically changed our operations, we have an almost 100% frequency of proper vein closing. Meanwhile, global statistics fall between 80 and 85%,” Feliga added.
