Paper clip like device showing great promise in controlling high blood pressure

A device to lower high blood pressure is showing great promise in clinical trials that began two years ago in England.

And it's only the size of a paper clip.

Peter Hunt, 62, says he's been transformed now that he's found a way to keep his resistant high blood pressure under control.

\"It stops you thinking to yourself, oh God, blood pressure is back up again. Why is it up again?\" said Hunt.

Doctors at Queen Mary University of London implanted the tine device called the coupler into Peter's upper thigh.

The coupler diverts blood to a nearby vein, relieving the strain on the artery and reducing the heart's workload.

\"The patients had substantial blood pressure lowering,\" explained Dr. Melvin Lobo. \"We're asking for their medicines to be reduced.\"

Patients with the coupler had fewer complications and went to the hospital less often for high blood pressure problems.

U.S. trials on the coupler are expected to begin later this year.