GUNTUR: In the operation theatre, where precision marks the end of a surgeon’s duty, Dr Sumita Shankar, a renowned plastic surgeon in Guntur, has chosen a different path – one that begins where the scalpel leaves off. Her determination to push beyond conventional limits has now culminated in a milestone rarely achieved by women surgeon’s in India – a design patent for a therapeutic sleeve that could transform the treatment of lymphedema and chronic wounds.
The patented sleeve grew out of years of determination. In the early 2000s, Dr Sumita pioneered the use of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT), long before it became common in smaller Indian cities. The therapy saved several patients from amputations. But the method had a drawback: preparing the dressings was slow and cumbersome, sometimes consume several hours.
“I realised if the process wasn’t simplified, it would never reach the people who needed it most,” she recalls.
That realisation led to her breakthrough: a user-friendly sleeve that delivers NPWT quickly and effectively. Unlike expensive lymphatic pumps, it works even in end-stage cases that mainstream medicine often abandons. More than two dozen patients with severe lymphedema have already found healing and relief through this device.
