Sound waves crack the calcium blocking heart arteries — 97 times out of 100

Some blocked heart arteries are blocked by rock. Heavy calcium deposits make arteries rigid and stents hard to place — and a trial reported this week tested sound against stone. Abbott's Tectonic trial enrolled 335 patients with severely calcified coronary artery disease at 40 US sites, treating them with an investigational system that sends acoustic pressure waves — the same principle used to break up kidney stones — through the artery wall to crack the calcium. The results, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions, met both main goals: procedures succeeded in 97% of patients, and the 30-day rate of target-lesion failure was just 0.3%. The device is still investigational and longer follow-up is ahead, but for patients whose arteries were too hardened for standard treatment, a new door may be opening.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation