A Brief Overview of How Bronchial Thermoplasty Catheter Works and its Advantages

As per WHO estimates, there were around 300 million people around the world suffering from asthma in 2022. The numbers itself are enough to tell the story of how grave the situation is. Increasing pollution, changing dietary habits, evolving lifestyle patterns, etc., have played a major role in increasing the incidence of asthma with each passing year. Naturally, asthma is one of the primary ailments which has caught the attention of the medical world. Researchers from various institutes and universities and medical practitioners across the globe have studied the disease for a long time now and have devised different ways of tackling the disease. Major pharmaceutical companies have invested in developing devices that aid doctors to carry out necessary medical procedures to diagnose and treat the disease. Bronchial thermoplasty catheter is one such example.

What is Bronchial Thermoplasty and How Does Bronchial Thermoplasty Catheter Work?

Bronchial thermoplasty is a rather innovative treatment method for asthma. It received approval as a safe treatment mechanism from the FDA in 2010 and has been in use since then. Used specifically to treat severe asthma, bronchial thermoplasty is a non-drug medical procedure that involves use of bronchial thermoplasty catheters to reduce the pain intensity associated with asthma. It should be noted here that this medical procedure doesn’t cure asthma, rather it makes breathing easier for the patient.

Patients suffering from severe asthma usually have inflammation in their lung tissues. This makes the lung airways tight causing problems for the patient while breathing. The main objective of using bronchial thermoplasty catheter is to open up these airways so as to restore the lung tissues to their normal state and relive the stress on these tissues.

Bronchial thermoplasty typically involves three sessions with three weeks “cooling off” period between each session. Prior to inserting the bronchial thermoplasty catheter in the patient’s lungs, the doctor conducts certain tests which helps him/her to get an idea about the medical condition of the patient’s lungs and its air holding capacity. After adjudging the extent of problem, the doctor usually gives a steroid to the patient to numb the mouth and throat area. Then, the bronchial thermoplasty catheter is inserted through the throat, into the lungs of the patient. Bronchial thermoplasty specifically targets the smooth muscles of the lungs and the catheter essentially provides thermal heat to these muscles to prevent them from shrinking and tightening during an asthma attack.

Advantages of Using Bronchial Thermoplasty Catheters

As stated earlier, use of bronchial thermoplasty doesn’t necessarily cure asthma. However, regular sessions of bronchial thermoplasty does reduce the amount of stress borne by the lungs, thus relieving the pain associated with severe asthma attacks. Moreover, medical studies have also shown that bronchial thermoplasty sessions, if taken at regular intervals, reduces the overall number of asthma sick days. Thus, this procedure has proven to decrease both, frequency and intensity of asthma. Also, since no drugs are involved in this medical procedure, the side effects are relatively lower as compared to other invasive techniques.

Future Prospects for Bronchial Thermoplasty and Bronchial Thermoplasty Catheters

The bronchial thermoplasty catheters market is rather a nascent one owing to the recent nature of the medical procedures. One of the biggest challenges in front of the medical research fraternity is to address the issues like cough and vomiting that have been reported in certain cases. Also, it has been reported that many patients are hesitant to undergo bronchial thermoplasty owing to the invasive nature of the medical procedure. Creating awareness about the positives of this therapy becomes very important in such a situation and hence medical fraternity needs to step up for creating a conducive environment for bronchial thermoplasty.

About the Author(s)

Princy A. J

Princy holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the prestigious Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. University at Chennai, India. After a successful academic record, she pursued her passion for writing. A thorough professional and enthusiastic writer, she enjoys writing on various categories and advancements in the global industries. She plays an instrumental role in writing about current updates, news, blogs, and trends.