An implantable device stimulating the body’s own regulatory systems of controlling high blood pressure belongs to numerous experimental technologies that are promising for the treatment of various kinds of cardiovascular problems.
Others comprise a computer improving the effects of angioplasty by automating balloon inflation and an X-ray-visible microcapsule simplifying the delivery and tracking of stem cells to tissues that require new blood vessels.
The research concerning the latest technologies was demonstrated at the American College of Cardiology’s Innovation in Intervention: 2 Summit, in New Orleans.
Maintaining low blood pressure
The implantable device controlling blood pressure known as the Rheos Baroreflex Hypertension Therapy System, consists of a pulse generator (about the size of a pacemaker) that is implanted under the skin close to the collarbone. Wires take electrical signals from the pulse generator and take them to the carotid arteries in the neck, where the body’s pressure sensors (baroreceptors) are situated.
When the electrical signals from the pulse generator get to the baroreceptors, the brain interprets the electrical signals as an increase in blood pressure and stimulates the body’s natural mechanisms for decreasing blood pressure.
The investigation involving 21 patients having high blood pressure discovered that their systolic blood pressure (the top number in a reading) decreased by approximately 21 mm/Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 16 mm/Hg after half a year of treatment with the Rheos device.
According to the scientists, this device may become a significant method of treatment for people suffering hypertension who do not observe any improvement after the use of conventional therapies.
Computerizing angioplasty
Another experimental technology that was demonstrated at the meeting is a computer-operated device that steadily inflates a balloon and stent inside a narrowed coronary artery. The research that included three hundred patients discovered that the Computerised Automatic Pressure Sensor and Inflator Device (CAPSID) considerably decreased patients’ long-term likelihood of re-narrowing of the coronary arteries and following complications, such as heart attack.
It may happen that manual angioplasty techniques can damage artery walls. Using CAPSID may improve results for people undergoing stenting and considerably reduce the costs of medical care by decreasing the necessity of expensive drug-eluting stents and the necessity to repeat the procedures, the scientists explained.
The third brand new technology shown at the meeting is a microcapsule transporting stem cells throughout the organism and protecting the stem cells from attack by the immune system. The X-ray visible microcapsules – also known as XCaps - may be used to track the delivery, survival and function of stem cells in treating cardiovascular disease.
