each year some 200 000 americans undergo
bypass surgery for coronary heart
disease
most coronary heart disease is caused by
arteries clogged with plaque and fatty
deposits
in a very limited number of cases an
inflatable balloon catheter can be used
to squeeze the obstruction out of the
way
to treat multiple blockages bypass
surgery is the only available treatment
20-30 000 procedure requiring weeks of
recovery time
new technology like this eczema laser
and the fiber optic device called an
angioscope hold great promise for
revolutionizing the treatment of
coronary heart disease
pulsing a billionth of a second bursts
of ultraviolet light the eczema laser
represents technology originally
developed by a group of researchers at
nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in
pasadena california
doctors at the cedars sinai medical
center in los angeles have teamed up
with jpl and are working on an
angioscope which will allow a surgeon to
see obstructions as well as transmit
laser energy to vaporize plaque from
arteries
cedars sinai's director of
cardiovascular research dr james
forrester the way we would plan to do
the procedure is to make a small
incision either in the arm or the leg
and pass a catheter or small tube
up to the location where an obstruction
in a blood vessel existed
we would be able to see it through our
fiber optic device
and then we would under visual control
deliver energy that would instantly
vaporize that obstruction
restoring blood flow in that blood
vessel
the technique called laser coronary
angioplasty is in the pre-clinical
stages of development with patient
testing scheduled to begin in a couple
of years
the key to this surgical technique is
being able to vaporize plaque with true
precision removing small amounts at a
time without causing any heat damage to
the tissue what we'd like to show is
that we could remove material without
doing heat damage to surrounding tissue
so i'll take an ordinary match and i'll
put it near the focus of the laser beam
you can see i've eaten away half the
head of the match with the laser beam
but have not let it on fire
this demonstrates how we can
cut tissue without causing thermal
damage to the surrounding cases
okay can you just give me a test shot
stuart mcdermott of the jpl laser group
demonstrates the eczema's capability on
a section of human aorta heavily
deposited with plaque
you can see this clean
precisely cut hole has been made by the
laser
note that there's no evidence of
blackening or any thermal damage either
in the hole or to the surrounding areas
this is a magnified cross-section of
tissue cut with an eczema laser
if you compare this to the work of an
argon laser being used in surgery today
it is easy to understand why the eczema
has so much potential
argon lasers are very heat intense and
cause burning and carbonization of the
tissue often this effect will cause
blockages to reform in the arteries
originally developed for atmospheric
ozone testing the eczema laser may prove
to simplify the treatment of coronary
plaque and help curb america's number
one killer heart disease