Franz P. Freudenthal is a Bolivian physician who is known for several medical inventions, including a device that can cure heart ailments in children.
[citation needed] Franz P. Freudenthal was born in La Paz, Bolivia to German immigrant parents.
[1] He was part of a team that in March 1998 reported encouraging results of tests on neonatal lambs for occlusion of patent ductus arteriosus with a double-helix device at RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
[1] After returning to Bolivia in 2003 the Freudenthals founded Kardiozentrum, a center for diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease.
[5] This occurs when the ductus arteriosus blood vessel, which bypasses the lungs before a baby is born, fails to close up soon after birth.
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.
[6] Technically, the Nit-Occlud ASD-R, is a double-umbrella, self-expanding, self-centering and premounted device knitted from a single nitinol wire without any soldering or protruding clamps or screws.
[10] 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.