"Evaluation of Three Ho:YAG Laser Systems for PMR"
8 Minute Technical Presentation Video produced as part of a
Submission to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
Client: Cardiogenesis Corporation
Director, Photographer, Editor, & Microscopist: Barrie Schwortz
Watch the Video (10 MB WMV file)

This project required cross-sectional, high magnification video documentation of three different 1 - 1.5 mm diameter fiber optic Ho:YAG medical laser delivery catheters as they drilled channels into porcine myocardium tissue submerged in saline. The in vitro experiment compared wavelength, energy per pulse, energy per channel, pulse duration, repetition rate, fiber core diameter, spot size at catheter tip and energy density for each system. The video was used to examine and characterize the drilled channels and evaluate the overall efficiency of the systems when used for percutaneous myocardial revascularization (PMR).

The project also required the evaluation and imaging of histological samples using polarized light photomicroscopy to detect and visualize thermal damage to the tissue surrounding the drilled channels. Once detected, a digital imaging morphography protocol developed by Barrie Schwortz (and accepted for use in certain clinical trials by the F.D.A.) was performed to compute accurate channel area measurements and thermal damage area measurements.

Related Papers:

"Basic Science Considerations in TMR - In Vitro and In Vivo studies." In TMLR Management of Coronary Artery Diseases, Klein M, Schulte HD, Gams E, Eds., chapter 11, pp:131-142, 1998. (co-author)

"Basic Science and Clinical Considerations in TMR and PMR," Proceedings of the IEEE Lasers and Electro Optics Society, Vol. 2, pp. 396, 1998. (co-author)

"Optimization of laser ablation for TMR/PTMR," 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Photobiology, Washington D.C., pp. 67S, July 1999. (co-author)

Digital Imaging For Quantification of Peripheral Vascular Lesions, Image Morphography Protocol submitted and approved for clinical trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1999.

"Wound Area Measurement in a Multisite Clinical Study," Journal of Advances In Skin and Wound Care, Submitted 2002 (co-author)

"In Vitro Characterization of Three Ho:YAG Laser Systems," 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, April 2003 (co-author)