Lasers in cardiology

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death and morbidity in developed nations - in particular, diseases of the coronary arteries are most prevalent. Other main contributors to the CVD death toll include: stroke, high blood pressure, and diseases of non-coronary (peripheral) arteries. Lasers are well suited to diagnose and treat these diseases because of their standard implementation through fiber-optics that can be directly placed in the diseased vessels. The most substantial challenge to implementing lasers in cardiology is to acquire measurements or apply therapeutic treatments through blood flow, and how to clear the blood if necessary. This chapter represents the history of how lasers have been used for studying, diagnosing, and treating diseases of the coronary, cerebral, and peripheral arteries.