Summary

The Venowave is a Canadian invention that researchers think could help to prevent the hundreds of leg amputations that occur every year in Canada. The device is strapped around the calf and squeezes the leg to improve blood circulation by pushing blood upward. In the legs, blood has to struggle with gravity when travelling up the veins to the heart. The Venowave is designed to make this process easier.

Researchers at McMaster University, who are intrigued by the Venowave, have conducted a study showing that the device helps ameliorate leg swelling from vascular insufficiency. Another study showed that the Venowave helps prevent deep vein thrombosis, or the formation of blood clots in the deep veins of the leg.

As mentioned by Dr. Sonia Anand, associate professor of Medicine at McMaster University, the device can be a new option to treat patients vascular diseases such as peripheral arterial disease, which does not have plenty of alternative treatment options. Others believe that the device could treat leg wound in people with diabetes. This can prove to be an advantageous use of the device because about 60 to 70 percent of people with diabetes develop some form of nerve damage, or neuropathy. This could lead to a loss of feeling in the feet and legs. The loss of sensation and poor circulation can combine to make diabetics less capable of fighting an infection and healing a foot wound. These infections could become worse over time, and could require amputations.

When the Venowave was invented, doctors began to use it to treat diabetics, and they noticed that the leg wounds of their patients healed much faster.

Eighty-year-old Ferguson Kewley observed his diabetic foot sore heal quickly while using this device. Ferguson explained, "the wound was on the side of the small baby toe and it was open and it was not healing. And the doctor explained to me if you don't heal you are going to lose your foot." After wearing the Venowave for three weeks he noticed dramatic improvements in the healing of his foot.

Check out this video by the people behind the Venowave for more information about the technology: