In a recent paper published in the international journal TheLancet, researchers from Queen Mary University have developed a revolutionary device that can help patients with uncontrolled hypertension to lower their blood pressure better than traditional medications.
In the article, the researchers named the new device "Coupler" (developed in conjunction with ROX Medical), a paperclip-sized implant that can be implanted between an artery and a vein in the thigh under anesthesia, and then began a randomized, blinded clinical trial of Coupler in 83 patients. Coupler therapy was compared to conventional drug therapy in 83 patients, 44 of whom received ROX Coupler therapy, and the results showed a significant and sustained reduction in blood pressure, as well as a reduction in hypertension-related complications and hospital admissions in patients who received Coupler therapy.
Coupler therapy was also used in patients who had failed to undergo renal sympathectomy for hypertension, suggesting that the Coupler can utilize a different mechanism to effectively control blood pressure in patients; however, patients who did not previously undergo renal sympathectomy may have seen a more pronounced decrease in blood pressure with Coupler therapy, the researchers noted. The researchers note that this new device-based therapy is reversible, rapid, and painless.
Researcher Melvin Lobo said that current medications for treating hypertension focus on hormonal or neuromodulatory drugs, while newer therapies such as renal sympathectomy focus on the renal nervous system, and the new Coupler device can effectively target different aspects of the blood pressure cycle to achieve blood pressure control, while the device is an antihypertensive. As a new anti-hypertensive device, the Coupler also plays an important role in controlling arterial stiffness. The results of this study show that the novel treatment of hypertension with the ROXCoupler provides patients and physicians with an alternative approach to treating hypertension, which can significantly improve the health and quality of life of hypertensive patients.
As with all therapies, however, the Coupler device has some side effects, with about 29% of patients treated with the device experiencing leg swelling, which means that the researchers will need to take some steps to deal with this at a later stage. Researcher Lobo said that high blood pressure is very dangerous and often leads to strokes, heart attacks, and chronic kidney disease, and that we must find ways to effectively control elevated blood pressure in patients, and that the development of the new Coupler device has revolutionized the effective control of high blood pressure.
More research is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the Coupler device on patients, and a better understanding of the safety of the device and how it works will provide a foundation for its use in treating hypertension at a later stage.