Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May 1;17(3):385-387.
doi: 10.1093/inthealth/ihae067.

Using disruptive innovation to design endoscopic ligators for resource-challenged health settings

Jack T Gardner  1 , Vincent Dusabejambo  2 , Steve P Bensen  1
Affiliations

Using disruptive innovation to design endoscopic ligators for resource-challenged health settings

Jack T Gardner et al. Int Health. .

Abstract

Background: Commercial single-use endoscopic multiband ligators, used for esophageal variceal band ligation (EVL), are prohibitively expensive. To enable greater access to EVL, we used disruptive innovation to develop a novel endoscopic multiband ligator.

Methods: We designed and tested a prototype handle 'ENDOhandle' using computer-aided design modeling and exported a cap, trigger cord and latex to form a functional banding unit.

Results: The cost of the banding unit was US$4.80 compared with several hundred US dollars for commercially available devices in the USA.

Conclusions: Disruptive innovation technology developed an inexpensive ligator for resource-challenged health settings.

Keywords: esophageal banding; innovation; ligator; varices.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
CAD modeling image of the ‘ENDOhandle’ actuator. (A) Component parts of the handle device (B) Assembled handle device.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Okafor PN, Stobaugh DJ, Wong Kee Song LM, et al. Socioeconomic inequalities in the utilization of colorectal stents for the treatment of malignant bowel obstruction. Dig Dis Sci. 2016;61(6):1669–76. - PubMed
    1. Abbas Z, Rizvi L, Ahmed US, et al. Cost saving by reloading the multiband ligator in endoscopic esophageal variceal ligation: A proposal for developing countries. World J Gastroenterol. 2008;14(14):2222–5. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Walter JR, Xu S, Rogers JA. From lab to life: How wearable devices can improve health equity. Nat Commun. 2024;15(1):123. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rizzo ML, Turco S, Spina F, et al. 3D printing and 3D bioprinting technology in medicine: Ethical and legal issues. Clin Ter. 2023;174(1):80–4. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources