Mohali: A Punjab-based cardio-vascular surgeon has innovated a technique which been hailed as a life saving invention by experts. He is going to get it patented and publish it now so that it could be used all over the world in saving patients from critical condition.
Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, Director of Cardio Vascular and Thoracic Sciences at the Park Grecian Hospital, Mohali presented his invention ‘Bedi Cooling Turban’ to save the brain from low oxygen during surgery at the prestigious 71st Annual Conference of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons (IACTS) held in New Delhi.
Dr Bedi claimed that the device has now been used in 48 cases of repairing blockage of the brain arteries with full preservation of the brain.
It is a well known fact that any injury is better tolerated if the temperature of the injured organ is lowered. But in the brain the problem is unique as whole body cooling has its own inherent problems and in brain related surgery one needs only cooling of the brain. Any period of low oxygen to the brain can lead to a massive stroke.
“I then thought of cooling just the brain. For this I designed a unique cooling turban after multiple attempts,” said Dr Bedi who has worked on advanced cardiovascular techniques at the Escorts Heart Institute, Delhi and the St Vincents Hospital in Sydney where he has operated upon cases with cooling of the whole body (hypothermia) to preserve organ function.
Using his vast experience he was able to put the idea into practice. He made a turban like coil with plastic tubes. These were placed around the patients head after anesthesia. Now cold sterile water was pumped into these coils with a special machine so that the head alone got cooled. The surgery was now done with the brain temperature low. The device has now been used in 48 cases of repairing blockage of the brain arteries with full preservation of the brain by Dr Bedi.
The national and international expert delegates of the IACTS 2025 were very impressed and asked a number of probing questions. The Cardiac Director of Max Hospitals, Dr Rajneesh Malhotra in fact was very enthusiastic and suggested more clinical cases where it could be used to save the patient’s brain function.
