An innovative but pricy surgical procedure, a Memokath ureteral stent placement, is currently being conducted on patients at Mater Dei Hospital.

The Memokath stent-type placement was conducted for the very first time at Mater Dei this morning while the second intervention is in the process, and the third planned to start later today. The three patients undergoing the procedure are in their early 50s.

David Grech, an operating theatre nursing officer at Mater Dei, told The Malta Independent online that the surgery is innovative but very expensive. He said that the first intervention conducted this morning was a success.

The innovative procedure offers a new ray of hope for patients with a urethral stricture - the result of the development of scar tissue after either traumatic or inflammatory injury of the urethra.

For the patient, it is a troublesome condition, with symptoms such as painful urination, difficulty urinating, slow urine stream, frequency and urgency, incontinence, blood in urine or semen and urethral discharge as well as pelvic or lower abdominal pain. 

Although a degree of expertise is needed for its placement, it is a good option to salvage renal function.

The Memokath stent design comprises a metal wire coil with one or two expandable sections. But the simplicity of design is significantly outweighed by the sophistication of the metal wire itself.

The wire is a specially developed pure nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloy with precision thermal memory properties utilised only for the Memokath stent programme. The thermal memory response allows both fully controlled stent expansion at placement and fully controlled stent softness at removal. Pure NiTi is also an ideal implant material because it is highly bio-inert and biocompatible.

Stent expansion happens under the full control of the urologist or uro-radiologist who places the stent.

It is understood that additional stent expansion does not happen after stent deployment. In other words there is no delayed or uncontrolled expansion.