It’s a problem no one wants to talk about, but one the National Institutes of Health estimates half of us will face by age 50. And though it’s not life threatening, it can be awkward to discuss, even with a doctor.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Michael Epstein has treated both F-16 fighter pilots and pregnant women alike for hemorrhoids. It’s an affliction as painful as it is common, and up until the creation of a breakthrough medical device from Macedonia-based Max Endoscopy, treatment for it was unpleasant as well.
“Grown men would leave the office crying,” Epstein recalls of his days in the Air Force treating pilots who endured extreme G forces and extended periods of sitting. That’s probably because treatment involved cinching the inflamed blood vessel with a rubber band to cut off blood flow. More extreme cases required surgical removal.
But Max Endoscopy’s patented Precision Endoscopic Infrared Coagulator detects and destroys hemorrhoids quickly and pain-free. “The improvement has been remarkable,” Epstein says, comparing the device treatment by way of rubber band ligation.
Determined to alleviate his patients’ discomfort, Epstein wanted to find a better treatment option than the “40-year-old technology” commonly employed. He eventually formed Max Endoscopy with company president and CEO Robert Stuba (pictured at left) and vice president Michael Wolf. The devices are assembled in Macedonia, and Epstein uses them in clinical trials in Annapolis, Md.
“It was a delight, if you want to say that sort of thing is a delight,” remarks one 70-year-old patient who wished to remain anonymous for this story. “I’ve been praising [Epstein] to the hilt since then.”
The retired sailing enthusiast says he had tried the banding and “slice and dice” procedures before but noticed a difference this time in how quickly his body tissue healed. He says he was back to his exercise regimen in no time.
The device works like this: During a colonoscopy, the doctor identifies the lesion or bleed site using a flexible fiber optic cable attached to a control box. The tip of the cable generates a 700-degree focused beam of infrared energy that heats up the inflamed blood vessel, which gradually coagulates or clots the area without causing deep tissue damage. Epstein says his device is the first to combine fiber optic and infrared coagulation technologies.
Company president Stuba says another benefit to procedures like this, where screening and treatment can happen in the same visit, is the economic savings for both the medical provider and insurance company. Physicians can see more patients, and the insurer isn’t billed for multiple examinations. Most importantly, Stuba says devices like the one created by Max Endoscopy encourage sufferers to get help.
“Patients don’t want to go to multiple health care providers if they don’t have to,” he says, something that can dissuade people from seeking treatment.
Stuba says this one-stop health care trend will grow, and it’ll be driven by baby boomers. If he’s right Max Endoscopy may soon need more than six employees to keep up. The company will also need more products.
The 3-year-old startup plans on modifying the device to treat other disorders where coagulation therapy is effective, such as Barrett’s esophagus and lesions in the lung and bladder. Currently the Food and Drug Administration has cleared Max Endoscopy’s product only for hemorrhoid treatment.
“Cleveland is a hotbed of ideas in the medical device field,” Stuba says, largely because of the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. “There are more ideas coming out of those hospitals than there are companies to support them. I think we have a strong future here.”