Design of device for treating of oesophageal bleeding for hospital in Malawi

In Malawi, the high prevalence of oesophageal bleeding, primarily attributed to protal hypertension caused by the endemic of the Schistosomiasis infection, poses a significant health risk. Endoscopic band ligation is used as treatment for this condition. However, with prices around $60 for a disposable endoscopic band ligator set the costs are too high to treat all patients in a low resource setting like Malawi. A simple version of a endoscopic band ligator that is able to ligate a rubber band with the help of a string is designed which can be reloaded with the help of an applicator. With the help of reversed engineering functions and requirements of the device are defined. The design is divided into different parts; the ligator device, the connector part, and the applicator. Concepts are generated and evaluated. Prototypes are made with iterative design and a final design is conducted. The devices could be produced locally with a SLA resin 3D-printer, this will make the devices more accessible for hospitals in Malawi. In conclusion, progress has been made towards the design of a device for treating oesophageal bleeding in Malawian hospitals. Further research is required for the cleaning methods and the connector component to enable the implementation of the device in practice.