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Heart angioplasty surgery (“Dotteren” in Dutch) has developed into a quick and reliable procedure which has saved the lives of thousands of people all over the world. The procedure always starts with the insertion of a 300 um diameter guide wire into one of the patient’s main arteries which is subsequently shifted – guided by X-ray imaging – to the blocking (stenosis) in the coronary artery. The guide wire then serves as a guide for the balloon, the stent and other instruments which are simply shifted over the guide wire to the location of the stenosis. |
| Until recently the surgeon solely had to rely on an X-ray image to decide on the type of therapy. However, with the miniaturization of sensors and electronic circuits it has become feasible to integrate advanced electronic functionality in the tip of these guide wires which are only three human hairs in diameter! Since the guide wire is always there, this means added diagnostic information without the need for additional manipulations in the Cath-Lab, making these procedures safer at little additional costs.Smart Flexible Sensors for In Vivo Coronary Circulation Diagnostics Arjen van der Horst, Philips Research & Professor Ronald Dekker, Philips / Delft University of Technology parallel session A, 15.00 – 15.20 hrs. |
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Sensors of People & Things is...