Abstract
Laser angioplasty has generated expectations of precise, high-technology remodeling of diseased arteries. The potential of laser pulses to ablate an obstruction, rather than merely reform it, is the key to this new technology. Lasers create a highly collimated beam of light energy of a single wavelength that can be easily focused onto a small optical fiber and thus can be carried within a catheter to the site of an atheroma. This energy is absorbed by pigments (molecules) in the tissue, which can lead to rapid heating and to fragmentation of the tissue by vaporization or shock waves. Many lasers create brief light pulses of enormous peak powers and intensities. Such high peak powers can cause special tissue effects such as fragmentation without significant thermal damage to the surrounding tissue. Since tissue absorption varies 1000-fold (from 10 cm−1 to 8000 cm−1) and peak power 100,000-fold (from 5 watts to 0.5 megawatts) for the different lasers proposed for angioplasty, their effects [1] on atheroma and normal vessel wall vary enormously.
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References
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Bonner, R.F., Smith, P.D., Prevosti, L.G., Bartorelli, A., Almagor, Y., Leon, M.B. (1990). Laser Sources for Angioplasty. In: Abela, G.S. (eds) Lasers in Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery: Fundamentals and Techniques. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 103. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1489-9_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1489-9_4
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