Other Inventions
Numerous sequel applications of Fogarty’s catheter came about. The first balloon angioplasty, for example, was performed with a Fogarty catheter in 1965, and has led to over six hundred fifty thousand such operations per year. Fogarty has also modified his catheter to less invasive biopsy techniques.
After completing his residency and becoming a cardiovascular surgeon, Fogarty continued to invent new medical devices as a holder of more than 60 patents, with more still pending. Based on many of the devices founded in his own Fogarty Engineering, Inc., around twenty companies have been started.
One of Fogarty’s most successful products is the Stent-Graft. This dealt with the difficult problem of abdominal aortic aneurysms, which is a term referring to a weakened blood vessel. The old method was to remove the bad part of a weakened blood vessel, but Fogarty’s idea was to support it with an implant. He used a stent, a thin polyester tube that grabs onto the blood vessels. A catheter transports the stent to the weakened blood vessel, and once the balloon is inflated, the stent expands to the size of the blood vessel, and blood flows normally.
He also invented the Fogarty Clamp, which is used in cardiac surgeries.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Fogarty
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