Medical Device Vibrates to Breaks Up Plaque in patients' clogged Leg and Heart arteries

The device sounds almost like it is Roto Rooter for the arteries.  Patients are feeling immediate relief after the procedure.  Doctors are now able to open arteries with the device that couldn’t be touched before.  The article states it can also be used in the heart area as well as in the legs.  The catheter creates creating high frequency vibrations to break up the plaque.  The procedure for this patient, once the catheter was in place was a matter of 31 seconds and she had almost immediately relief from “tired legs” which she had been battling for a while and the procedure is well tolerated by seniors too.  BD  

The inventor of the device, called the Crosser Catheter, was in El Paso to watch his invention used on Benner and several other patients at Las Palmas Medical Center and to gather information on how to make it better.

Blocked arteries, such as the one on Benner, are so common among El Pasoans that this area is attracting inventors of medical devices who want to use their inventions on patients with severe cases.

Benner was one of those cases.

The catheter also can be used in clogged arteries of the heart.

"In the last two or three years possibly, we could not open up many of these arteries in the heart or legs and now we can open arteries that are totally occluded," Quintana said.

Patients with blocked arteries risk amputation if they are left untreated. The disease can also increase a patient's risk of heart attack or stroke.

Plaque-piercing device relieves patients' clogged arteries - El Paso Times

Technorati Tags: Medical devices,plaque,stroke,heart attack,arteries,procedure