Stockings to give elderly a lift

Researchers have developed inflatable stockings to give relief to elderly people with mobility problems.

The device could be used as an alternative to physiotherapy to treat patients with artery diseases.

A team at Imperial College London in Hammersmith, west London, carried out trials on 34 people with a condition which affects blood flow to the legs.

The stockings are wrapped around the leg and inflated three times a minute, squeezing blood out of the veins.

Consultant vascular surgeon Dr George Geroulakos led the research which focused on patients with a condition called intermittent claudication.

Read more: Stockings to give elderly a lift