The Future of Lasers in Endovascular Surgery

The potential for precise tissue ablation via a miniaturised delivery system (i.e. fibre optics) makes laser angioplasty a promising alternative for treatment of atherosclerotic occlusions which are not amenable to current forms of therapy. This is a particularly relevant consideration since the majority of developing angioplasty devices aside from balloons are difficult to miniaturise in a cost-effective manner. The utility of contemporary devices is restricted to stenotic or short occlusive lesions, with a high rate of early recurrence of lesions being a significant limiting factor in most locations. In order to address and resolve the current deficiencies and define the potential of lasers as an angioplasty device, it is first appropriate to overview the current status and define unresolved issues.