Franz Freudenthal

Franz Freudenthal
Born	La Paz, Bolivia
Nationality	Bolivian
Occupation	Physician

Franz Freudenthal is a Bolivian physician who is known for several medical inventions, including a device that can cure heart ailments in children.

Career

Franz Freudanthal was born in La Paz, Bolivia to German parents. He was inspired to enter medicine by his grandmother, who used to treat patients in remote rural areas of Bolivia. His grandmother, Dr. Ruth Tichauer of Wrischinski, was born in Königsberg in 1910 and died in La Paz in 1995. He used to go with her as a child on her medical visits. She was a pioneer in family planning and in outpatient treatment of tuberculosis, and shared her philosophy with Freudenthal. He attended the Higher University of San Andrés in La Paz for his undergraduate studies, then did his internship at Children's Hospital of La Paz. He decided to specialize in pediatric cardiology. His wife, Alexandra Heath, is also a doctor. The couple received scholarships to take specialized training in Germany. He performed his first operation on a child in Germany in the 1990s.

Freudanthal became absorbed in creating devices. He said that by the age of 25 he had treated more than 20 sheep with his devices, and at the age of 29 had treated his first patient, a child that could not be cured in any other way. After returning to Bolivia in 2003 the Freudanthals founded Kardiozentrum, a center for diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. They also created PFM Bolivia, to develop and market medical devices. In 2014 Freudanthal was heading a team of 80 young innovators on a new project to develop a treatment for strokes. Freudenthal has taken out a number of patents including a left atrial appendage occlusion device, embolization device, tissue clip, tissue tack, snare mechanism for surgical retrieval and deployment device for cardiac surgery.

Nit Occlud device

Freudanthal is known for his Nit Occlud device for treatment of an infant heart problem. The prototypes were first tested on sheep, and since then have been used successfully by Freudenthal on hundreds of children, and have been exported around the world. The device blocks a hole in the heart known as a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). This is a relic of the ductus arteriosus blood vessel, which bypasses the lungs before a baby is born and normally closes up soon after birth. If it fails to close, the infant suffers from oxygen deprivation. The problem is much more common in Bolivia, where the country around La Paz is at an elevation of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), than in other places. The device can be placed without an invasive operation, using cardiac catheterization.

The device is made from a single wire of nitinol, a flexible alloy of nickel and titanium. Nitinol was originally developed by the US military. The tiny Nit Occlud devices are small and intricate, and difficult to mass-produce. Instead they are woven by Aymara women in a "clean room". It takes about two hours to make each device. Nitinol is able to memorize its shape. The device is folded up and inserted into a catheter which is inserted into the groin and then run through blood vessels to the position in the heart where it is to be placed. The device is released and returns to its original shape, blocking the hole that caused the heart problem. By using a minimally invasive approach the technique addresses the concerns of some indigenous people of Bolivia that to manipulate the heart is to desecrate the soul. It takes about 30 minutes to place the device.

In August 2014 it was announced that Freudenthal had won the "Innovators of America" award in the Science and Technology category for his occlusion device to cure congenital heart disease in children. The award is given by Innovative America, is sponsored by the CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Spanish CAF Ezentis group, and was to be presented in Medellín, Colombia on 21 August 2014. As of 2014 the device had cured at least 50,000 children worldwide, and about 500 in Bolivia.

Sources

• Alejandra Martins (2014-10-02). "The inventions of the Bolivian doctor who saved thousands of children". BBC Mundo. Retrieved 2015-03-30. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• de los Reyes, Ignacio (2015-03-29). "The Bolivian women who knit parts for hearts". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-03-30. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• "El médico boliviano Franz Freudenthal gana el premio "Innovadores de América"". Página Siete (in Spanish). 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
• "Franz Freudenthal patents". Fresh Patents. Retrieved 2015-03-30.
• Gabriela Imaña (2014-11-16). "Los seis Innovadores de América revelan 10 claves para emprender". La Razo-n (in Spanish). La Paz. Retrieved 2015-03-30. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)