46 results about "Atheromatous lesion" patented technology

A method and apparatus, of providing endovascular therapy. The steps include arranging optical fibers within a catheter, the catheter having a tip whose length is at least 1 cm and whose diameter of less than 1 millimeter, connecting an excimer laser to the optical fibers; and delivering laser energy from the excimer laser in excess of a fluence of 60-mJ / mm2 at 40 Hertz through the optical fibers. The delivering of the laser energy may be to non-calcified or calcified deposits of an atherosclerotic lesion to ablate the same. The method also includes the step of inserting the catheter through an artery by pushing the same until the tip is in within laser energy striking distance of the atherosclerotic lesion.

Method and apparatus are provided to treat atherosclerosis wherein the artery is partially closed by dilating the artery while preserving the vital and sensitive endothelial layer thereof. Microwave energy having a frequency from 3 GHz to 300 GHz is propagated into the arterial wall to produce a desired temperature profile therein at tissue depths sufficient for thermally necrosing connective tissue and softening fatty and waxy plaque while limiting heating of surrounding tissues including the endothelial layer and / or other healthy tissue, organs, and blood. The heating period for raising the temperature a potentially desired amount about 20° C., within the atherosclerotic lesion may be less than about one second. In one embodiment of the invention, a radically beveled waveguide antenna is used to deliver microwave energy at frequencies from 25 GHz or 30 GHz to about 300 GHz and is focused towards a particular radial sector of the artery. Because the atherosclerotic lesions are often asymmetrically disposed, directable or focussed heating preserves healthy sectors of the artery and applies energy to the asymmetrically positioned lesion faster than a non-directed beam. A computer simulation predicts isothermic temperature profiles for the given conditions and may be used in selecting power, pulse duration, beam width, and frequency of operation to maximize energy deposition and control heat rise within the atherosclerotic lesion without harming healthy tissues or the sensitive endothelium cells.

Methods for identifying stem cells and other cells specific to embryogenesis and carcinogenesis, classifying tissue samples, diagnosing precancerous and cancerous or atherosclerotic lesions, testing the value of anticancer agents, discovering macromolecules specifically expressed in particular cell types, using stem cells in restorative tissue therapy as well as methods for preparing tissue samples so heteromorphic nuclear morphotypes remain intact are disclosed.

The invention provides expandable tubular endoluminal prostheses for the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions of blood vessels, including vulnerable plaque lesions, and methods of treatment using the prostheses. Various prostheses of the invention are characterized by hoop strength suitable for treating vulnerable plaque lesions, good conformability and good apposition to vessel walls, as well as minimal coverage areas in order to minimize the inflammatory response to the implanted prostheses.

Methods are provided for reducing copper values for, by way of example, treating, preventing or ameliorating tissue damage such as, for example, tissue damage that may be caused by (i) disorders of the heart muscle (for example, cardiomyopathy or myocarditis) such as idiopathic cardiomyopathy, metabolic cardiomyopathy which includes diabetic cardiomyopathy, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, drug-induced cardiomyopathy, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and hypertensive cardiomyopathy, (ii) atheromatous disorders of the major blood vessels (macrovascular disease) such as the aorta, the coronary arteries, the carotid arteries, the cerebrovascular arteries, the renal arteries, the iliac arteries, the femoral arteries, and the popliteal arteries, (iii) toxic, drug-induced, and metabolic (including hypertensive and / or diabetic disorders of small blood vessels (microvascular disease) such as the retinal arterioles, the glomerular arterioles, the vasa nervorum, cardiac arterioles, and associated capillary beds of the eye, the kidney, the heart, and the central and peripheral nervous systems, (iv) plaque rupture of atheromatous lesions of major blood vessels such as the aorta, the coronary arteries, the carotid arteries, the cerebrovascular arteries, the renal arteries, the iliac arteries, the fermoral arteries and the popliteal arteries, (v) diabetes or the complications of diabetes.

The present invention demonstrates that mitochondrial DNA damage occurs prior to, or simultaneous with, atherosclerotic lesion development, that aortic mitochondrial DNA damage increases with age, and that genotype and diet both influence the level of mitochondrial DNA damage. Hence, the present invention demonstrates that mitochondrial DNA damage occurs early in atherosclerosis, and may be an initiating event in atherogenesis, and provides methods to predict coronary atherosclerotic heart disease based upon the amount of mitochondrial DNA damage.

Methods and devices are provided for the localized administration to a patient of moieties effective for inhibiting unwanted cellular growth, including restenosis of an artery treated with a stent implant for blockage of blood flow by an atherosclerotic lesion. After implantation of a medical device capable of moiety-binding, moieties effective at inhibiting unwanted cellular growth are administered locally to a patient. In this manner the deleterious side-effects of systemic administration of moieties are avoided. Upon localized administration, the moieties bind the medical device, rendering the medical device itself capable of inhibiting unwanted cellular growth. According to an embodiment, after implantation of a stent, radioactive moieties specific for receptors immobilized on the stent surface are locally administered using a balloon perfusion catheter. The moieties bind specifically the receptors, becoming immobilized thereto, thereby rendering the stent radioactive and effective for inhibiting restenosis.