7 Healthcast: Artery cam

Brett Bouma, Massachusetts General Hospital
"The outside portion is transparent, the inside portion has optical fiber, spins around with a beam of light; every time the beam of light makes one revolution it grabs a cross sectional image."

It's a tiny, one of a kind device being used to detect plaque build up and prevent heart attacks in cardiac patients.

Dr. Gary Tearney, Massachusetts General Hospital
"We're looking at how plaques change over time and we're looking at the stent healing process over time and trying to understand coronary artery disease better so we can treat patients better with the disease."

The microscopic camera was developed at MGH by Dr. Gary Tearney and his staff.. .and the hope is to help heart patients by taking this proactive approach--

Dr. Gary Tearney, Massachusetts General Hospital
"In the future we'll be able to identify lesions that are thought to cause heart attacks and hopefully treat them before they cause a problem."

The device uses a probe smaller than a human hair to navigate into the actual artery moving at 100 revolutions per second, its able to give doctors a closer look at the condition of the interior of the arteries, and monitor the condition of stents and plaque build-up over time.

Dr. Gary Tearney, Massachusetts General Hospital
"The biggest advantage of this technology is the high resolution images it provides of the coronary wall which allows clinicians to see details that would identify types of plaques that cause heart attacks."

And that in turn will help doctors prevent future health problems for heart patients.

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