Meet the Spring That Restores Breathing for Smokers

An innovative lung catheterization method at Carmel Hospital allows COPD patients to breathe easier. This cutting-edge technique involves inserting small springs into the patient's lungs, expanding them and restoring the crucial ability to breathe.

Emphysema, known as COPD, appears mainly in smokers. The disease, lacking treatment, does not disappear even when smoking ceases and severely damages lung tissue.

After 45 years of smoking, Moshe's lungs became blocked, and he was diagnosed with COPD and declared 100% disabled. "It was a tremendous and difficult blow for me; I couldn't function. Every 100 meters I had to stop because I ran out of air, my mind was spinning, and I was waiting for a miracle to save me from this situation," says 60-year-old Moshe.

Thanks to the new technology, Moshe was able to breathe more easily. The technology involves a special metal coil made of "Nitinol," a material used in cardiac stents during heart catheterizations. "The material is durable and approved for implantation in the human body, maintaining its shape memory. The innovative spring is inserted into the small airways of the lung via bronchoscope and catheter, stretched straight. Within the lung, it returns to its spring shape.

When the spring expands, it restores the lung's elasticity, opening the airways, allowing trapped air to escape and dramatically alleviating the patient's condition.

Moshe shared that a few days after the treatment, "I already climbed several floors with about 60 steps, and after a week, I went to visit my brother who lives on the third floor and climbed all the stairs at once. For me, it's a simple transformation; my wife was amazed, and no one can believe their eyes when they see how I walk. I feel like I'm on cloud nine; I used to be forbidden to fly, and now I can fly without any problem. I'm already planning to visit my grandchildren in America."